My Will
by Lady-Nova
Summary: There's too much to summarize for this fic, all i know is that it is an AWESOME fic. Has a lot of humor and everything else w/ shocking twists. Please Read it and review it PLEASE!! I want to know your opinions! CHAPTER 8 IS HERE! YAY!!!
1. New Ties

Chapter 1: New ties  
Author's note: Yay! Another start of a wonderful fic! BAHAHAH! *ahem* Anyhoo...I don't know what to say, other than read it, laugh and R&R it please! I don't care WHAT kind of review it is as long as it is one. But I want you to read it! PLEZ! It's worth it!  
  
  
  
"Late again, LATE AGAIN!!!!" Dawn shouted as she made her way down the streets of Gotham City with her friend Julie and her boyfriend, Terry along side of her. "This has got to be the third time this week that we've been late!!!"  
  
"Well, if you would have gotten your butt out of bed this morning, we wouldn't be in this mess!" Julie said.  
  
"EXCUSE ME?! You were the one taking forever in the bathroom putting on make-up!" Dawn snapped back  
  
"WHOA! Ladies, calm down...do we have to go through this blaming thing every morning?" Terry butted in. "I mean, we're always late, and we always start an argument as to who did what......" Terry said. Just as they reached school grounds, Nelson and his pack of guys came out, ready for their "battle". They always think that the new day is going to be victory, but it's always the same.....a whooping. Terry jumped into the air and kicked someone in the face. "kicking Nelson's ass.....this is a repetitive thing...and it's getting really old."  
  
"But it IS Dawn's fault! I was never late for school before I met Dawn!" Julie said.  
  
"Oh, SHUDDUP!" Dawn said  
  
"Today is the day! We shall crush Terry McGinnis!" Nelson shouted, but then he saw Dawn. "OH! Dawn Grayson! MY love!" He went over to her and tried to kiss her, but she used her strength and punched him out of sight saying, "Hands off, perv!". After defeating all the "dumb" jocks, they ran into the school as fast as they could and into their room.  
  
"I hate being late...." Julie huffed.  
  
"We've gotta get here earlier....so we don't keep running into Nelson every morning..and that i don't have to deal with him..." Dawn said as she sat down in her desk.  
  
"Then get UP for god's sake..." Julie said.   
  
"Will you stop blaming it on me?!" Dawn asked angrily. "My God! Could you find someone else to blame it on?!"  
  
"Um.....no." Julie said in her grin, which made Dawn even more mad. Just as she was about to say anything else, the teacher came in and told them to all sit down. And that was the start of a typical high school day for Terry McGinnis, Julie Beautmont, and Dawn Grayson........isn't that sad?  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
"Look at all those puny mortals....." A man growled. "They have no idea what they have no idea what's coming their way......insolent fools... This is going to be so much fun......Muahahahahaahahhaahahahahahahahaha!!!!!!!" *scary*  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
"Wasn't the tone supposed to go off like ten minutes ago?" Dawn asked as she raised her head from sleeping.  
  
"Yeah, it was." Terry said as he looked around, with people talking to their friends, unaware that the tone hasn't even rung.  
  
"Oh well...more sleeping time for me...." Dawn said as she put her head down. Terry shook his head in disbelief at her as he smiled.   
  
"This is a little weird." Julie said as she walked over to the two. "We're usually on time with these kind of things."  
  
"Well, they might be running a little late today." Terry replied. Just then, their teacher, Mr. Sanchez, walked in with his briefcase.  
  
"Good morning, everyone." He said. "I'm sorry I'm a little late today, but I had to meet our new student."  
  
"ANOTHER ONE???" Julie blurted out to herself. Terry smacked his forehead, thinking that they have way too many new students come in. And then there was Dawn...who was sound asleep*Sweatdrop*. "Come on in, don't be shy..." Mr. Sanchez said. The door opened up and there was a figure at the doorway, just standing there with their head down, so you couldn't see their face. The figure began walking out of the shadows and walked over to Mr. Sanchez's desk. It was a girl and she seemed pretty. Once she lifted her head up, her eyes were the prettiest blue...She had red hair...Everyone stared at her in surprise. Terry began to shake Dawn's shoulder to wake her up.  
  
"Dawn...." He began.   
  
"Hey, c'mon...I'm trying to sleep..." Dawn said, hearing that it was only muffled by her face buried. Terry once again shook her and she got up with a somewhat angry look on her face. "Terry! What-?!" He pointed to the front of the class. She turned to that direction and her eyes widened. She...She....looks like ME!!  
  
"Class, this is Midnight." Mr. Sandoval explained. "Midnight, will you please tell us a little about yourself?"  
  
"I'd be glad to!" Midnight said in her cheerful tone. Dawn was in awe to feel like she was practically looking in a reflection. "My name is Midnight, and me and my Daddy just moved here. My birthday is on September 4, and I love music. I hope to get to know each and every one of you." She has the same birthday as I do!!! Dawn thought. That is NOT cool!  
  
"Well, we hope you enjoy it here at Hamilton High, Midnight." Mr. Sandoval smiled. "You can take your seat right in front of the guy in the black hair and shirt. She nodded and in a happy way, walked over to her seat and sat in her seat. She turned around and saw Terry, and she giggled.  
  
"Hello." She said.  
  
"Hi..." Terry said in his uncomfortable tone. "I'm Terry McGinnis."  
  
"Pleased to meet you." She said. "You know, you're kinda cute...." Dawn looked over at her with her deathglare, but said nothing. If she thinks that she is going to take my spot, there is no chance.....  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
"That Midnight girl is weird..." Max said as she sat down to her lunch. "It's freaky to see that she looks just like you, Dawn."  
  
"Yeah, well...that's just coincidental." Dawn said as she took a sip of her pop.  
  
"COINCIDENTAL??" Julie asked. "She looks almost just like you!"  
  
"She has a different hair color and she at least looks a little heavier than I do." Dawn said.  
  
"UR JUST SAYING THAT!!" Julie shouted at her.  
  
"Julie, calm down." Max said. "But she's right, Dawn. You guys look practically alike..."  
  
"Yeah." Terry added once he sat down to join them. "Dawn, there is something definitely wrong with this picture."  
  
"She's like you're....good twin...." Julie said as she noticed that Midnight was walking around.   
  
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY THAT??!!" Dawn shouted at her.  
  
"Nothing..nevermind." Julie sighed.  
  
"We might want to take this to Bruce and maybe we can find a profile on her, or something." Terry said.  
  
"Sounds like a plan." Dawn replied.  
  
"So.....Dawn.....Terry....." Max began, changing subjects. "Spring break is in a couple days.....and something VERY important is coming up....what are you plans?"  
  
"Important? You mean, our two-month anniversary?" Terry asked.  
  
"It's surprising that you remembered, Ter...." Julie said as she caught up to them.  
  
"How could I forget? This is isn't important...it's super-special to me....because of the way it happened."   
  
"Yeah....that was so romantic.." Dawn added. "I don't think I'll ever forget that."  
  
"Are you guys going to do anything though?" Max asked.  
  
"We want to....but we haven't thought about it yet." Dawn said.  
  
"Oh, you mean, because of the boss?" Max asked. The two both nodded their heads. "Forget him for one night. This is special to the both of you."  
  
"We were thinking about telling him, but we're not sure when to ask." Terry asked.  
  
"Yeah...but if not....I can always find a way for us to do something romantic." Dawn said as she wrapped her arms around Terry's neck and they both grinned. "Watch some movies.....have a romantic dinner in one of out bedrooms.....Maybe sweet-talk each other at night in either Spanish or Italian."  
  
"....." Julie and Max were both silent.  
  
"Te quiero, Dawn." Terry said as he kissed her on the cheek.  
  
"Te quiero, Terry." Dawn smiled and then she whispered in his ear, but amazingly, Max and Julie could both hear it. "¡Nos desnudamos al casa!"  
  
"Dawn!" Terry said, sounding surprised. "¿Tú son una chica mal?"  
  
"Si."  
  
"Quiero lamer crema batida de tu cuerpo...."  
  
"¿Serioso?"  
  
"Muy."  
  
"Oh, POR PAVOR......." Julie began, knowing exactly what they were saying. "Yo soy muy infermo......"  
  
"Sorry, Julie..." Dawn giggled.  
  
"If you're going to do that kinda stuff, do it at home...not in public...I mean, who would wanna hear that if they know how to speak Spanish like me??? That is so wrong!"  
  
"All right, all right...." Terry said as he smiled. "C'mon....we better get going....We don't wanna keep the old man waiting. I have to stop at my house first before we go over there."  
  
"All right. Bye Max!" Dawn said as the two waved to her and walked off.  
  
"Wait for me!" Julie said as she ran after them to catch up.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
"You know what....? I am so sick of this..." Nelson said as he crumbled a piece of paper up and threw it into the ground. "I'm sick of getting beaten every day by that....that twip McGinnis.....He's just trying to hold onto his girl...." He said as he then thought of Dawn, being imprisoned by an evil version of Terry *is this sad or what*. "That poor, poor girl is under HIS influence...I bet you she is locked up every day so he can have her all to himself for all of his dirty pleasures! I will not tolerate such behavior! I will free Dawn and then she will love me!"  
  
"How are ya gonna do that, Nelson?" One of his friends asked.  
  
"I dunno....I just have to find SOME way....." Nelson said as he lowered his head. "Ah.....but there IS a way...." a voice said to them. Nelson looked up and saw an old lady appear before them.  
  
"Where did you come from?!" Nelson asked.  
  
"I'm sorry....I just happened to overhear your conversation..." She grinned slyly. "So....some boy has your woman, eh? I might have a way to eliminate that problem for you....."  
  
"HOW?! Tell me!!!" Nelson said.  
  
"Here...." She said as she placed a small circle in his hand. "Place that in the center of his neck or shoulders."  
  
"What am I supposed to do with this..?" Nelson asked. "I'm not going to give him a tattoo...." The woman jumped up and whacked him upside the head.  
  
"You fool! This spell is hard to break...it will give an advantage...Challenge that boy to a fight, and you will be most pleased with the results."  
  
"What do you think....?" Nelson's other friend asked.  
  
"Fine.....I'll use it. Thanks."  
  
"You're welcome. Just in case, if you need help with your lover....you might want this....." The woman said as she handed something to him. He looked down at it to see that it was a bracelet with 3 beads on it. "The beads that are on the bracelet are pills....each one has a different affect. If taken, that person will fall madly in love with the opposite sex.....Be careful as to who will get it....You may never know who might end up with it....and be careful on which on you choose...." She then disappeared into the shadows. Nelson looked down on the bracelet. He then realized something.  
  
"WAIT!! She didn't even tell me which one is which!!!!!" He said. His friends had sweatdrops on their heads in annoyance, seeing that their leader can be so stupid at times.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"All right we have an hour to kill....." Dawn said as she looked around. "....What do you want to do for the time being?"  
  
"I dunno." Julie replied. "Watch TV or something."  
  
"That sounds good." Terry said. Dawn followed the two over to the couch, and suddenly, she had a flash go through her mind. Her body had fallen, and Terry had noticed her before when she stopped in her tracks, and caught her in time only to see that she was unconscious. He called her name a couple times, but there was no answer. Meanwhile, Dawn had closed her eyes and felt the air. Hmm....it's hot..She thought. Why is the wind so hot? She opened her eyes to see that everything around her was on fire. Dawn also saw a figure in the distance. Two of them. It was too hard to make out since all of the fire and smoke was in the way. She looked around to see the bigger picture of it only to find that it was Gotham burning. She watched it in terror and then, another flash. It was a man on top of the building holding someone by the neck. The body looked dead, but she couldn't tell since it was so far away. What's going on?? Dawn thought to herself. Who are these people??? Just then, she was brought back to reality, and when she opened her eyes, she found Terry and Julie there all worried about her.  
  
"Welcome back..." He said. "I was worried about you."  
  
"What did you see, Dawn?" Julie asked.  
  
"Gotham....burning...and a person that killed someone....I couldn't tell who they were....." Dawn said as she held her head.  
  
"What do you think it means?" Terry asked.  
  
"Something really bad is going to be hitting us......." Dawn replied. "Man, am I tired....These powers really like to wipe me out...."  
  
"Dawn, you could take a nap or something in m y room for a little bit...after that, we're gonna be going out. We have time right now to do whatever we want."  
  
"I guess it's a good idea that I get some sleep...." Dawn said as she went into Terry's room and quietly shut the door behind her. I can't help but to think about that person... Dawn thought. Who was it? What is this all about? What new foe is upon us this time? She laid down on Terry's bed, and kept thinking about it until she fell asleep. A half and hour had gone by quickly and just then, there was a knock on the door. Terry went to the door to get it only to find Nelson there with his friends. Julie then came up from behind him.  
  
"Nelson? What the heck are you doing here? WHERE I LIVE?" Terry asked.  
  
"We gotta talk, PAL..........." Nelson said as he slapped his arm around Terry's shoulder. He slapped the circle onto his neck, and all of a sudden, Terry could feel this huge burn going all through his body.  
  
"ARGH!!!" Terry shouted as he moved away. "What the heck did you do to me?! That HURT!"  
  
"I didn't do anything..." Nelson replied in his innocent tone. "But, back to business....I wanna challenge you to a fight." Dawn had just opened the door and she rubbed her eyes.  
  
"Ter, what's going on? I heard a scream a few seconds ago and-!" Her eyes finally opened up to see Nelson looking at her with a sly grin. 'NELSON! Why are you here??"  
  
"It's personal, babe...." Nelson replied. Terry then got up in his face.  
  
"Her name isn't babe...why don't you treat her with some respect??"  
  
"I do...more than you do..."  
  
"Excuse me???" Terry asked.  
  
"Oh, c'mon McGinnis...We all know that you lock her in your room just so you could have her all to yourself..."  
  
".....????!!! Hell no!" Terry said. "Why would you think something so stupid??" Terry asked. Julie then took hold of his arm.  
  
"Ter, hold it..." She said.  
  
"Enough talk. Now are we going to fight or not?" Nelson asked. "We'll fight for Dawn. Winner gets her heart....which won't be a hard thing for me...." Terry's angered had flared up, and it looked like he really wanted to hit him, but then Dawn took him by the arm and stopped him.  
  
"Ter, c'mon....just show them out...you don't have to fight." She said.  
  
"Yeah, but this fool has definitely gone to the deep end. He has an obsession over you....and I'm going to end it." Terry said. They all walked outside and went out on the street to half a old-fashioned show down. Dawn and Julie, with Nelson's group stood off to the side.  
  
"I don't like this one bit..." She sad to Julie, and she nodded in agreement.  
  
"Don't worry Dawn." Terry said, since he heard her. "I'll be sure to get this over with before you know it." He then faced Nelson. "Let's just get this over with, Nelson. I have places to be."  
  
"Sure thing, McGinnis..." He grinned evily. They started and Terry made the first move by using his attack and punching Neslons a couple times in the stomach. He moved back to watch Nelson fall, but he didn't even move. Terry was surprised with the rest of the group. Terry shook the stun away and then jumped up in the air and kicked him in the face....again...no affect. Nelson simply pushed Terry and he went flying backwards into the wall. Dawn watched in horror as he fell back into the wall, making an indent. She went over to him for aid.   
  
"Terry, are you all right? What's wrong with you??" She asked. He slowly got up and went back into the fight. I don't get it....What's going on? Dawn thought to herself. This has never happened before. Terry went in at full throtle and gave it everything he had, which he never had to do before.....and....again....not affect. Nelson held him and then slammed him onto the ground...and Terry couldn't get up after that.  
  
"That thing that old lady gave Nelson really worked...I can't believe how badly McGinnis is getting killed...All he needs to do is get the bracelet with the beads on it to work, and boom! He's in business!" One of Nelson's friends said. Dawn overheard the conversation and he scolded in her mind. So that's it......She thought. But what's the bracelet for?  
  
"Looks like I win..." Nelson grinned. "You lose...and Dawn is now mine....." He walked over to Dawn and opened his arms to her.   
"Come here, hun..." Dawn got angry and punched him out of sight. "In you DREAMS, loser!" Nelson's friends went after him and tracked him down while Dawn and Julie rushed to the beaten-up Terry.   
  
"Terry....! Speak to me....!" Dawn said.  
  
"........." Terry was stunned. "I....I can't believe it...." He couldn't even speak he was beaten that badly.  
  
"It's all right, Terry. I-"  
  
"URH! I can't believe that IDIOT beat me!!!" He said as he was about to punch something, but out of no where, a child came walking by on his tricycle and Terry ended up punching him. He, Dawn, and Julie gasped in surprise, but what was more surprising was that the child wasn't even crying.....not even shooken by the punch.  
  
"Terry, you idiot! How could you hit a child?!" Julie asked.  
  
"Hey, kid, are you all right?? I'm really, really sorry!" Terry said, over and over again. The child looked over at him and flicked him in the head causing him to fall backwards.   
  
"Dummy!" The kid said and rode off. Dawn and Julie both stared in shock  
  
"That was really weird...." Julie said.   
  
"Now I know something's definitely wrong with him." Dawm said. "C'mon. We're taking you over to Bruce's." They helped him up and they went to Bruce's and went to go figure out what was wrong.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
"You mean to tell me you got beaten-up by some jock??" Bruce asked.  
  
"We're just as surprised as you ar Bruce...it's so confusing...." Julie said as she crossed her arms. "It's not everyday you see Terry getting beaten the crap out of from NELSON..." Terry sat on the desk, with a perplexed look on his face. Dawn gave him a sturn look while she looked at him and then walked over to him. She then began to feel all around Terry and they were all wondering why.  
  
"Umm.....Dawn.....Uh....I don't think now is the good time for this.....I mean when it's more private or something....Whoa! Dawn, stop touching me like this! There's a time and place for this but not the now..!" Dawn then took his shirt off and scanned him. "DAWN! What are you doing???"  
  
"What's the matter with you, Dawn?" Julie asked.  
  
"There..." Dawn said as she pointed to Terry's back. "This must be the problem." They all went over to see and they saw a marking on Terry's back. There was a japanese symbol on his back that was pure black.   
  
"This is....a Shintou mark." Bruce finally decided. "How did this get on him?"  
  
"Nelson." Dawn answered. "I overheard his friends talking and they had mentioned something like a mark working like a charm. And before that, I heard Terry scream...."  
  
"Which would explain as to why my back started to burn when he slapped me on the back.....HE did this to ME?!" Terry asked as his anger started to rise again.  
  
"Easy, Terry." Julie said as she settled him back down, then turning to Bruce. "What is the Shintou mark?"  
  
"A japanese sign. There are many different kinds that have different powers.....From what you told me as how the fight went, it seems to me that this mark is the one where you are left vulnerable and anyone can attack you. Even a toddler could hurt him."  
  
"So, that's why Terry got hit by that kid...." Julie said. "It all makes sense. Now he's really weak and anyone could be after him...."  
  
"And you know what that means...." Dawn said as she looked at her.  
  
"Anyone who has a grudge against him or has some kind of vengeance against him......"  
  
"Ohh................" Terry groaned. "I think I should stay here tomorrow morning..."  
  
"Oh, no you don't." Julie said as she put her hands on her hips. "You have to go to school tomorrow. Your mom isn't going to let you get the day off considering how much time your out of it already."  
  
"Maybe it's a good idea if he didn't go, though...." Dawn said. "That's like saying 'I'm weak...please kill me'."  
  
"Dawn's right." Bruce said. "So it might be a good idea if he took the day off."  
  
"He could, if his mother didn't have anything to say about that." Julie said.  
  
"Oh...I almost forgot." Dawn said. "I also remember another thing that Nelson's buddies were talking about...They mentioned something about a bracelet with beads on it."  
  
"Did you say bracelet with beads?" Bruce repeated.  
  
"That's right."  
  
"That could only be one thing, if I'm right on my theory. If he got the Shintou mark , then he must have gotten this at the same time." Bruce said as he turned on his computer and searched for it. He got a picture up there and turned back to them.  
  
"This bracelet has three different affects. They're meant to become attracted to the first person of the opposite sex is of them that they see. Each bead has a different affect: The moment, the day, and the lifetime."  
  
"Why do you think they would want something like that?" Julie asked.  
  
"I know why....it's because of Dawn. THAT'S why. Just so he can have her.." Terry replied. "but how do we get it away from him? And the antidote for the Shintou mark?"  
  
"We'll figure that out later." Bruce said. "Right now, it's best that we-" Just then, there was noise from the alarm on the computer. Bruce went over to go look at it. "There's a disturbance dowtown...Better go check it out."  
  
"We're on it." Terry said, but Bruce stopped him.  
  
"Maybe you should stay here while Dawn and Julie go out...since you not being strong enough, I think it's just best to be here."  
  
"Bruce...! C'mon! I'll be fine out there. I promise." Terry said.  
  
"Terry," Dawn said as she walked over to him. "I think Bruce is right. It might be a good idea that you stay here.....Being in the condition that you're in. Julie and I can handle tonight while you stay here."  
  
"But Dawn..."  
  
"No buts. You can help out by helping Bruce for whatever he needs." Dawn said.  
  
"Oh great. What a big part I play....." Terry groaned. She smiled and then pecked him on the cheek to cheer him up. He gave her a small grin back and then Dawn and Julie went to go change.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
"And where did you say this was, Bruce?" Batgirl asked. "Keep your eyes peeled." Bruce said. "You both seem very close."  
  
"How close?" Celes questioned.  
  
"Um....PRETTY close." Batgirl said as she looked up at a building that had a laser shooting out from it.  
  
"Oh...." Celes awed."That's pretty close." They flew up therer and hid in the corner. It was a man that was using some kind of magic. Batgirl and Celes ran in on him and Celes used her ice attack to stop him. She froze off his legs and he let out a short yell in pain. He looked up in anger.  
  
"Lovely party you're having...." Batgirl grinned.   
  
"It's you...." He said in a low tone. "It took you long enough to get here....."  
  
"What are you talking about?" Batgirl asked.  
  
"I only did this to get your attention." He said.  
  
"Well, you certainly got it." She replied. He unfroze himself by using his magic, and then fired a beam at the both of them. They rolled separate sides. Batgirl encountered back by charging at him and kicking him in the stomach. He flipped backwards and then came back at her with some fire power. It hit her into a wall, and she slid down it, while Celes went to go attack him, trying her luck. He's tough, Batgirl thought as she got up. I shouldn't use my powers to take him out, but....if it comes to it, I may have to.  
  
"You're pretty good...." She said as got back up and went to go help the now-fallen Celes. "Who are you?"  
  
"The names' Eagle." He said. She helped her up and the two attacked at once with kicks. Eagle used a barrier and blocked them out. It reflected them backwards and flew them back hard. Batgirl once more got up, and then she blasted him back with a lightning bolt. He dodged the attack and then grinned at her. Finally, her power, he thought to himself. Batgirl used her power and created her own powerful beam only to damage. He backed away for a second, to find that his armor was damaged, which was a rare thing.  
  
"Hmm.....This is a little unusual....This is the second time that armor of mine has been damaged.....You must be really good if you could put a dent on this thing.....But I'd ecpect nothing from an ancient like yourself." Batgirl's eyes widened in surprise.  
  
"How did you....!" She asked.  
  
"It's not that hard to figure out....I can see through your suits and know exactly who you are....DAWN.....JULIE..." Eagle smiled. "Nice to meet you lovely ladies....I'll see you around...but next time....it won't be for greetings." He said and flew off fast. Batgirl and Celes ran after him fast, but wasn't able to catch up to him.   
  
"How did he know our names??" Celes.   
  
"I don't know. We better head back. Bruce may know of this guy." They went back, and Batgirl thought to herself. Another one who's fascinated in the ancient business.....that's exactly what I need right now. Isn't there any others out there besides me??  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
"Eagle, huh?" Bruce said. "How interesting."  
  
"He knew us both...is he in your generation?" Dawn asked.  
  
"Actually, yes, he is."  
  
"But that can't be." Julie interrupted. "He looked like he was our age. There's no way he could be apart of the same guy that Bruce knows."  
  
"Maybe he's a guy in the family of the man who started the name, and he's carrying on the legacy." Terry said.  
  
"Actually, it isn't." Bruce said as he typed on his computer. "Eagle doesn't age. He and his brother, Zio."  
  
"Zio?" Dawn asked.   
  
"Eagle was just there. There was no Zio."  
  
"Well, Eagle probably was there to test you. He does that a lot. He did it with me, and I won't be surprised if he keeps testing you. Especially you, Dawn." Julie walked upstairs to go check on the news and listened as she walked out.  
  
"Why Dawn?"  
  
"They feed on strong energy. Since Dawn is probably the only one in Gotham that really has power, they'll want to see her skills and see if she is worthy enough. Who knows the reasons as to why they came back here."  
  
"But how is it possible they can be here?" Terry asked.  
  
"Zio gave themselves eternal life once he had the strongest kind of magic. They are very powerful people and I think that you're going have to be very prepared for them."  
  
"Umm....guys?" Julie asked as she came back.  
  
"What is it, Julie?" Dawn asked.   
  
"I was just listening to the news....and there's something really odd going on. You might want to check it out." Bruce turned on the TV on his computer and the screen popped on.  
  
"-There is no lead on this murderer, but the most common thing that they all had was that they were all children. No one knows what happens to the bodies, but they disappear after the the police get ahold of it. Nothing will be released by the police, but eventually will have some informtation. Commisioner Barbra Gordon suggested that if you are a parent, please keep a good watch of your children."  
  
"How horrible....A child killer?" Dawn said. "Does this all....link up with Zio and Eagle?"   
  
"Most likely." Bruce replied.  
  
"But why would they want to do such a terrible thing?" Julie asked.  
  
"Don't know, Julie, but we have to eliminate whatever is causing these problems."  
  
"This is probably going to get really ugly." Terry said as he crossed his arms. "Who knows what's ahead of us."  
  
"We just have to be prepared." Dawn said as she lowered her head in anger. "Looks like we have our new project." 


	2. The World's Weakest Man

Chapter 2: The World's Weakest Man  
  
Author's note: Oh, my, my...Chapter 2? Yay! Another one has been posted! This one...I don't know what was wrong with me at the time, but I wanted to have a very humorous chapter, and look what I got *^^*. You have to read this one because it's quite funny and stuff. Overall, I find this chapter to have a little bit of everything. So read on, Batman Beyond fans!  
  
~Aki~  
  
Dawn woke up that morning as any morning had ever gone. She stretched and yawned, about to rub her eye. When she tried to, she noticed that she couldn't get to her eye. Instead of getting it, she got something hard on her head. "What the...?" She began as she rubbed it and then knocked on it. Dawn sprang out of bed and went over to her dresser to see a metal piece stuck to her head. It was a urinal piece stuck on her head! She stood there, looking in the mirror, and became irritated because she knew who's work this was.  
  
"BRUUUUUUUUUCE!!!!!!!!!" She shouted. Just then Bruce walked in and he was smiling.   
  
"Good morning, Dawn." He said.  
  
"There's nothing good about it! What the heck is this stupid thing on my head?!" Dawn said as she tried so hard to get it off.  
  
"It's your mask, or course."  
  
"MASK??? For what may I ask???"  
  
"This mask is for your training to overcome your weakpoint of your left eye. That's the reason why you were caught off guard yesterday by Midnight from what Terry told me last night. As much as I didn't want to do it, it had to be done. Your father had the same exact problem and lucky I saved this mask. He overcame it, and if can, you can too. The mask is made from a very special kind of metal that can not be broken nor taken off and made by the finest company of my time-" Bruce explained, noticing that Dawn was not paying the least bit of attention to him, only trying to get the mask off.  
  
"But why did you have to put it on ME?? I don't need any help with my eye-sight! I can't believe you would do something this stupid!! Help me get it off right this minute!"  
  
"I can't do that! You can say whatever and hate me all you want, but you're going to wear it until you have overcome your problem."  
  
"You idiot! You MORON! HOW IN GOD'S CREATION AM I GOING TO WEAR THIS STUPID THING TO SCHOOL???! I'll be the laughing stock of the whole school to be known as the UNRINAL QUEEN or something like that!" Bruce sagged from his self-esteem being brought down tremendously, seeing how hard it was to get the thing in the first place. Dawn slammed the door in his face so that she could get changed for school.   
  
"I think...she's mad at me..." Bruce said and then jerked back to see that things were being thrown against the door that were meant to hit him. "I've never seen Dawn this angry before...."   
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
Dawn went into the kitchen to make herself some breakfast. She was so ticked off and she felt like it was definitely not a way to start the day and she feared to see how it would be like at the end of the day. She took an egg and decided that she was going to make scrambled eggs. As hard as this task seemed she did it anyways, determined to prove to Bruce that she could do it. She took out a pan and started up the stove. Bruce, who was behind her, watched her to see that she would try, knowing how determined she could be. Dawn took hold of an egg and hesitated, trying to find her place where she always cracks it. When she cracked it and opened it, but fell to the floor. Bruce buried his head in his hand in disbelief. Dawn heard his sigh and sharply snapped her death glare at him. Bruce looked at her, frightened that she was going to kill something *see? woman, he can't fight with...lol* and then turned away to make it look like he wasn't watching. Bruce then shook his head because he realized he's supposed to be the one to help her and encourage her. Why didn't I think of that before? He thought.  
  
"Dawn, you must learn to concentrate on your target with just using your one eye. I know it's a little hard-" Bruce began but then Dawn through an egg at his face. Yet he still continued to talk "You must understand that you have to do this for your own good-!*hit with spoon* I don't care how you treat me for this, I know it will help you in the end-!! *is hit with a toaster and finally the frying pan and falls over*" Dawn storms out, steps all over Bruce *in an anime style* as she was on her way out.  
  
"*yawn* Aww man, I'm exhuasted. I hate going to school so early in the morning..." Julie said as she was walking into the kitchen. When she looked up, she saw Dawn's face and then Bruce on the ground. Julie gasped in surprise.  
  
"Wh-Wh-What happened to your head??" She asked.   
  
"It's Bruce's MASK for me...." Dawn groaned. Julie stared at it and then began to laugh. "HEY! You're supposed to be my friend, aren't you?? Stop it!"  
  
"I'm sorry, Dawn...really I am! Ha, ha, ha, ha!" Julie laughed "It just looks so rediculous on your head! What will Terry think when he sees that?? And when you go to school? Ha, ha, ha, ha!!!" Dawn looked at her with an angry look, and then walked out to go to her room. "I think I'm going to stay home today in order to avoid the humiliation." She went to her room and flopped onto her bed, ending up with a big sigh. God I hate Bruce pulls these kinds of things behind my back, she thought to herself.   
  
"Hey, there....." A voice said that Dawn recognized immediately to be Terry and hid her head under covers. Terry looked at her confused. "Um.....Okay...I'm glad to see you to...." He walked over to her and sat down.   
  
"Is there a good reason you're hiding under there?" He smiled.  
  
"Terry, now is not a good time....." Dawn replied in a muffled tone.   
  
"Why not?" Terry asked as he wrapped his arms around her, which surprised her. "I heard from Bruce that you have a mask to overcome your problem....."  
  
"Oh yeah....He did a GREAT job...."  
  
"It can't be that bad....."  
  
"It is!"  
  
"Let me see...." Terry said as he took the covers off and revealed her mask. He look at it in surprise, and then turned away.  
  
"I knew it....you were going to hate it like this and just be embarrassed...." Dawn said as she lowered her head. All of a sudden, she noticed that he was shaking. Dawn looked over at him and gave him an annoyed look because she saw that he was trying to hold in his laughter.  
  
"You know, you're not helping.....!" Dawn said. "How am I supposed to go to school with this thing on?"  
  
"Take it off." Terry replied.  
  
"Bruce said it can't come off..." Dawn said. Terry looked at the back of her head and notice something. He took his hand and placed it onto a zipper that was on the top of it. Terry unzipped it and took it off her head. Dawn stared confused.  
  
"See? It does come off....." Terry smiled.  
  
"ARGH! That Bruce! He's gonna get it! He told me it didn't come off!" Dawn shouted.  
  
"Easy Dawn..." Terry said. She got her things together and walked downstairs with Terry following to find Bruce sitting on his chair. He turned to her with an uneasy look since he was already mad at. Dawn looked at him and smiled with a evil look.  
  
"Heh, heh, heh...." Dawn said. "Hate to disappoint you....but I'm not going to wear this dumb mask no matter how much you ask me to....And you won't be able to get this thing back on me ever again......." Dawn said as she walked out. Bruce looked at her with a stern look. He then turned to Terry with an even more stern look.  
  
"Hey, I didn't tell her to say any of that...." He said.  
  
"If she doesn't wear that helmet....she could have some serious complications." Bruce explained as he folded his hands.  
  
"I'm sure she can overcome it without it..." Terry replied.  
  
"She could....but it is very difficult...and the practice is time-consuming....it takes years to master something like that. You might want to keep an eye on her." Bruce said. Terry looked at him and nodded his head  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"Just like that...." Dawn said on their way to school. "We'll ask Nelson for the anitidote..."  
  
"....And If he refuses, he will probably get beaten the pulp out of." Julie smiled.  
  
"Just as long as I can get through the day without getting in trouble." Terry groaned as he lowered his head. "It's not fun being this way....."  
  
"I know it isn't, Ter. Don't worry." Dawn replied as she gave him a pat on the back. Just as they were heading to school, the saw paper flying everywhere. Julie got ahold of one that flew by them and she began to read it.  
  
"What is it, Julie?" Dawn asked  
  
"Um....nothing!" Julie said as she crumbled it up, nervously. Dawn snatched it from her and when she reopened it up, it had in big, black, bold letters, "TERRY MCGINNIS IS WEAK!" A sweatdrop creeped onto Dawn's head and her hands began to shake.  
  
"Oh no.......Terry, this isn't good for you...." She handed him the paper and he slapped his forehead.  
  
"Oh C'MON! You have gotta be kiddin' me!" Terry said. "What idiot in his right mind would do such-!" He saw Nelson and his buddies giving out flyers of it to people that were coming into school, and Terry stared in shock.  
  
"It's ok, Ter. We'll take care of them." Dawn said as she rolled up her sleeves. Julie and her went over to them with an angry look. Once they approached, Nelson smiled at her.  
  
"Hello, Dawn." Nelson said in his attempted-romantic tone.  
  
"Cut the crap, Nelson....I want the antidote for Terry right now." Dawn growled.  
  
"Oh, sweety! I would hand it to you, but then...where's all the fun in that?" He replied.  
  
"I'll give you fun-!" Julie said as she was about to go pulverize him, but then Dawn held her back. "Let's try to talk to them, eh? Before we go into war?" She whispered. Julie didn't want to listen to it, but she knew that she was right.  
  
"Oh, Dawn?" Nelson said to her. "I forgot something. I wanted to give this to you...It's....er..umm... Candy!" He showed her a little ball that looked like candy. But it was really the love pill.  
  
"Candy?" Dawn asked.  
  
"Yes....." Nelson grinned. He flicked one over to her to pop in her mouth, thinking that his plans for her were going to work....but then...Terry go in the way, and it accidentally got into his mouth.   
  
"McGinnis! What are you doing?!" Nelson blurted out. Julie then came up from behind him and smacked him upside the head.  
  
"What do you think you're doing??" She shouted. Terry looked over at her and then he gasped. He went over to her shyly.  
  
"Man...You're cute...." He said. She jerked backwards.  
  
"HUH??!" She said.  
  
"I mean, WAY cute..." Terry added. Dawn looked at him in surprise and in anger.  
  
"TERRY!" She said.  
  
"N-no! WAIT! Th-That's the LOVE PILL talking, it's not really---!" Julie began but, Terry cut her off by showing his tounge to her with the pill on it. She looked at him with surprise.  
  
"Only kidding!" He said. He jumped away when Julie took her bookbag and swung it at him. "Bwahahahaha! You fell for it, you dummy! You think I'd actually SWALLOW this thing?!" Just then, Max came up from behind and slapped him in the back.  
  
"Hey, Terry! Hows' it goin'?" She said. When she had slapped him, Terry had swallowed the pill. He held his neck.  
  
"Look...at what you made me do...!" Terry said.  
  
"What are you kids doing??" A voice said. They all turned to see that it was an old woman...one of the teachers of Hamilton High. Kind of short, and very old and wrinkly. Terry took one glance at her and then he gasped....She had become the woman of his dreams. He walked up to her with his cute boyish looks and stared into her eyes.  
  
"How could I... How could I never see...Just how lovely a woman in full bloom can be!?" He said as he hugged her. Everyone stood there in the ultimate shock *mostly Dawn*. The teacher blushed.  
  
"Oh, you don't mean that!" She said.  
  
"Terry! What are you doing??" Dawn asked. "Stop that!!!"  
  
"Let's run away together!" Terry said as he took the teacher by the hand and began to run away. "Just to get away from these mean people that are jealous of our love!"  
  
"Terry, you idiot!!" Julie said as she ran after him. Dawn turned back to see that Nelson was standing there with a blank stare. She walked over to him and tackled him. She then pulled him by the jacket.  
  
"All right, Nelson....You asked for it...first the mark, and now this!!! You started all this..now fix it! Give me everything you have in your pockets that have something to do with these problems that you have given us!" Dawn demanded.  
  
"I don't think so, baby....there's no way I'm going to give you the antidotes for them!" He laughed. Dawn got mad at him and punched him out of sight. She then ran right after Terry, being able to catch up with Julie.  
  
"We gotta knock him out of it!" Julie said.  
  
"Let's double whammy him!" Dawn said. Julie nodded in agreement and they both jumped up in the air and kicked Terry from behind. He went flying forwards and then went into a wall. Dawn went over to him and sat him up.  
  
"Terry, you are so in trouble! How can you do this?!" She asked.  
  
"...Huh? What are you talking about?" Terry asked.  
  
"Your little LOVE." Julie replied.  
  
"My..who?" Terry questioned, completely confused.  
  
"That would be me, dearie..." The teacher said. He looked down, then his whole body went into shock as he was surprised that he did something so terrible...with someone that old and wrinkly....!   
  
"Terry?" Dawn called to him.  
  
"I don't think he can hear you now." Julie said. Dawn put her hand onto her forehead.  
  
"This is a complete disaster...what more could happen to him?" She asked.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
"Poor Terry...." Dawn said, shaking her head. She was sitting with him in the nurse's office, just so she could check on him. He opened his eyes and looked over at her.  
  
"What is happening to me? Do you think this job is getting a little way too outta hand?" He asked.  
  
"No....I just think it's the people at this school that are making you go crazy."  
  
"Especially Nelson....When I get ahold of him once my strengths' back...I swear...He is soo mine!"  
  
"Umm.....Ter?" Dawn asked. "Don't worry about it....We will get it. I promise. I just wish that there was something I could do to help you." Terry looked at her and smiled, but then, a thought had struck him.  
  
"I think there is, Dawn......" He said. She gave him a confused look. He sat up and grabbed her by the shoulders. "In excahange for the antidote, you have to go out on a date with Nelson!"  
  
"Have you flipped your lid???" Dawn blurted out as she moved away from the bed. "That's going against all of my morals!!"  
  
"I know, I know! I hate it just as much as you do, but you know...he won't remove it from his jacket, and he definitely won't take it off as long as it's in there. Of course...He does do everything you ask him to do practically...so if you asked him to strip or something, you could steal his jacket or something-!" The Dawn hit Terry in the face with a pillow.  
  
"I think that you're still a little woozy from that pill...You need to calm down. First of all, I AM NOT going to watch Nelson strip because that is just plain out wrong in my opinion. And second of all, I'm not doing it!" She got up and walked out of the room. He sat up, and watched her leave but then he had an evil grin on his face. That's what YOU think....Terry thought and then made a little evil chuckle while the nurse watched him, thinking that he was a little odd.....  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
"Dawn!" Max said as she ran out to her. "I've been wondering where you were. How's Terry?"   
  
"He fine..." Dawn said in a somewhat angry tone.  
  
"What happened between you two?" She asked, sensing something went on between them.  
  
"Terry wanted me to go on a date with Nelson so I could get the antidote back for him...and as much as I love Terry, I can't do that because it might kill me mentally."  
  
"Yeah...I guess that would be true if I were asked that." Max said.  
  
"I can't believe the nerve of him sometimes......" Dawn said as she walked outside of the school. "I mean, yeah, I want to help him, but I think he's actually asking a little much of me..." She walked out to her car and noticed that a figure was there.  
  
"Who's that?" Dawn asked. They got closer to find that it was Midnight just standing there.  
  
"Hello....Dawn Grayson...." She said.  
  
"Midnight...." Dawn replied back. "And what do you think YOU'RE doing sitting ontop of MY car?"  
  
"I just wanted to wait for you." She smiled. "And to give you a message."  
  
"Oh, and that is....?" Max came in.  
  
"I just wanted to let you know that you should stay away from Terry, if you know what's good for you..." She grinned.  
  
"And why should I?" Dawn asked.  
  
"Because....he shouldn't be around someone like you...he deserves a better girl...like me. Oh, and don't worry. I will take better care of him than you did."  
  
"Now wait just a minute! Since when did Terry become and object?? He isn't a prize to be won, you know!" Dawn snapped at her. "Terry and I both have our differences at times, but we love each other and there's no one that can break that bond between each other! Not even someone wannabe that looks like me!!"  
  
"I may look like you, but I am no imitation of you. Nor an android....So, don't think I'm any of those sorts...I'm real close to you, Dawn...closer than you may realize."  
  
"What are you talking about?!" Dawn asked.  
  
"If you want Terry, you're going to have to fight for him....I want to see your skills, Ms. Grayson. Come at me and fight!" Midnight said. Dawn got in her fighting stance and was ready to go.  
  
"Dawn, are you sure about this...?" Max asked.  
  
"I'm definitely sure...That girl has my face on her and I'm gonna remove it...PERSONALLY." Dawn replied. She charged at Midnight, with fast agility, and just as she was about to strike, Midnight had already moved away from her and was right behind her. Once Dawn was able to turn around, Midnight kicked her in the back and she hit the front of the car. Dawn turned around and used her "Flame Arrow! Yaaah!!" Midnight stood there, and then she blocked the powerful magic. Dawn and Max were both surprised. Then it was Midnight's turn.   
  
"FLAME ARROW!!!! YAAAAH!" She shouted and her magic came in even more powerful than Dawn's. She flew back into the wall, feeling the burn of her own medicine. Dawn slowly stood up. She...She uses the same magic...as I do.....Dawn thought.  
  
"I can use the same magic as you can...and can perform many more spells than you can...The only difference between me and you is that mine are more powerful. So don't bother to use magic against me." Dawn's angered had flared up and attacked Midnight in a vicious manner. Every kick they she had swung at her, had missed or hit the wall, making it crack. Dawn was getting tired of punching and kicking, and that was when Midnight attacked. She kicked harder than she did, and the pain was shooting all through her body when it just was hit in one area. Just as Midnight was about to attack her once more, something hit her hard in the back and made her fall over. She turned around to find that it was Max holding bricks.  
  
"You've got to learn to chill, girl." Max said. Midnight used her magic and had Max fly backwards into the fence. Once Midnight had gotten to the point where she had gotten bored with Dawn, when she was tired and not able to go on, she looked down on her.  
  
"Down already? That's no fun! I better leave then....I hope you feel better, Dawn, because I want you to be refreshed when I come and play with you again later!" Midnight said and disappeared in a flash. Max went over to help her up.  
  
"You okay?" She asked.  
  
"Yeah...I'm just swell...." Dawn said, hesitating to stand.  
  
"C'mon...let me get you home, okay?" Max said as she helped her into the car.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"Is that it?" Julie asked.  
  
"That should be good." Terry said as he looked at the two letters he wrote. One of them was a letter "supposedly" from Dawn in Julie's handwriting, and then another one to Dawn from Terry to meet him to make-up for earlier. Both letters had the same exact meeting place and the plan seemed perfect. Nothing could stop them.  
  
"This is gonna be good!" Terry said rubbing his hands together.  
  
"Are you SURE you want Dawn to do this?" Julie asked.  
  
"I know, I hate Nelson too...but Dawn I think can get the job done...She knows that I'm in a great deal of pain, and that it's neccessary to get the antidote so I can go back on duty with you both." Terry explained. "Now.....to move onto phase two."  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
"What??? A letter from DAWN? To ME??" Nelson asked as he began to blush. Terry and Julie were dressed up like little geeks that Nelson had never seen just so they could fool him.  
  
"Yea!" Julie said in a high tone. "She said it was very important that you came."  
  
"Wait....Is this for Terry??" Nelson asked, catching on.  
  
"Nope! Not at all!" Julie said, catching herself on it. "Terry and Dawn broke up yesterday because he was being a jerk to her and stuff and that she didn't want to see him again. And now she has these secret feelings for you that she couldn't say in front of you because she was with Terry. She thinks that he's a slimeball!" Terry behind her began to get a little frustrated with her.  
  
"Oh, really? So she's free....? ALL RIGHT! I'm gonna go on a DATE with DAWN!!!" He said and ran off. Julie turned to the angry Terry.   
  
"You didn't have to be that mean!" He said.  
  
"Sorry!" Julie smirked.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"Dawn...?" Julie began as she walked into her room to find her a little beat up. "What happened to you...?"  
  
"Let's just say, I underestimated Midnight...." Dawn replied.  
  
"What did you do?"  
  
"I got in a fight with her...and I was definitely not the victor. She is invicible.....She has the same attacks that I do and they're ten times more powerful...."  
  
"What do you plan to do about it?"  
  
"I have no idea...I just wanna rest right now...."  
  
"Well, while you rest, I have somehthing for you. It's from Terry." She handed her the letter and walked out quietly. Dawn looked at it and then opened up the envelope to read it. She sighed and then smiled. Always trying, aren't you Ter? She looked down at the bottom of the letter. Tomorrow, meet me at the park we usually go to...Dawn read. The park? Why?  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
"Where is Ter?" Dawn said as she looked around for him. "This should be the spot...."  
  
"Dawn!" A voice said. She turned around and saw that Nelson was there, nervous as ever. "H-Hello...I....I...."  
  
"Huh? Nelson? What are you doing here?" Dawn asked.  
  
"Uh...Um...I'm really glad that you finally realized to become my girlfriend...." Nelson  
  
"WHAT?"Dawn "You're GIRLFRIEND...? When did I ever...?" Dawn asked angrily.   
  
"It was in your note." Nelson explained. He handed her the note and read it closely...This writing looks familiar.....O GOD! "TERRY! NOW what is he up to!?" Dawn said angrily to herself. Just then, someone walked by with a burrito. He took a bite of it, and it squirted onto Nelson's face. Terry and Julie*out of nowhere*, in their disguises came rushing in and took hold of Nelson.  
  
"Oh my goodness! You're all dirty!" Julie exclaimed  
  
"You can't face Dawn like this!" Terry added. They brovght him over to a water fountain and was ready to put his face in. "Hold on! You need to take off that jacket so it doesn't get all wet!" Just as they were about to, Dawn walked up to them, and looked at them in a disturbed expression.  
  
"Julie! Terry!" Dawn asked. "What are you doing?!" Terry had almost gotten the paper out of the jacket, but she stopped when she saw Nelson looking at both of them in a very angry way.  
  
"Julie?! TERRY?!" Nelson repeated.  
  
"Well...." Terry said as he took off his costume to reveal his true form. "I guess the jig is up."  
  
"SO....your ingenious disguises fooled even ME!" Nelson said *even though, that's not saying much* "Well, you might fool me once-- But you won't fool me again!!" Just then he heard Dawn say "Nelson....Kiss me, you fool!" Neslon looked back at her and his whole face flushed red and was completely excited. Dawn had a confused expression, only because she didn'r say it. Julie was behind her, imitating her voice. "And close your eyes, ok?"  
  
"Uh...Like this?" Nelson said as he did what he was told. Dawn looked behind her to see that Julie was there. Terry came up from behind Nelson and tried to bash him on the head, but still, he's not strong enough to do it, and Nelson didn't feel it. Dawn kicked Julie out of sight and shouted at her. "How DARE you say lines like that in my voice!!" Dawn went over to Nelson, as he was still getting punched and kicked by Terry, and still didn't feel it. Dawn pushed him away from Nelson and he went flying back into a tree. Julie then came back and then bashed him on the head to knock him unconscious. She then pushed Julie away.  
  
"Are you okay, Nelson?" Dawn asked.  
  
"Hey, stop butting in, Dawn!" Julie said in her angry tone.  
  
"So...you are the cahoots, eh?" Dawn asked. "Setting me up with Nelson, just so you can get that paper?!"  
  
"THAT'S VERY TRUE!" Terry said, using a microphone in Dawn's ear. Dawn looked down on the ground, stunned.   
  
"I'd expect that from Terry.....but Julie too?? Playing HIS stupid games?!" Dawn said out loud.  
  
"Now listen-!" Terry began as he got whacked with a mallet. "I won't!" Dawn said to him.  
  
"Have it your way! I will go out with Nelson!" Dawn said, dragging the unconscious Nelson away.  
  
"WAIT! DAWN!!!!" Terry shouted.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
"I can't believe him...I could have done this without being set up....I told him I was going to get it...and now, since he's acting the way he is...he can do it himself! I am going to have fun with Nelson....It may be a little hard since I'm going against my morals...But this is an exception to get back at Terry..." She said as she sipped her milkshake. Across from her, Nelson was sitting at the table, still knocked out. Dawn took a small mallet and whacked him on the head. He immediately arose and looked around.  
  
"Huh?" He blurted out.  
  
"You awake, Nelson?" Dawn asked as she smiled. He looked around.  
  
"WHAT'S THIS?!" He asked, a litle confused, and then realized it. "Could it be that our date has begun?!"  
  
"Umm....well....yeah...." Dawn hesitated. He sighed and then looked at her. "Where do ya wanna go, Dawn?? New York?? Florida?? California??"  
  
"How about something closer?" Dawn asked.  
  
"I have it! The mall! Let's go to the theaters!" Nelson said. They went on their way, but since Nelson is so lovestruck, he lost his sense of direction and ended up at a haunted house. He looked around, again confused. "Huh...that's funny. This theater looks a lot like a haunted house...."  
  
"That's because it IS a haunted house!" Dawn said. She shook her head in disbelief. I can't believe I'm doing this....Why couldn't this be easier....? And if it had to be like this...why didn't this happen to someone SMARTER with a sense of direction....?!  
  
"Don't worry, Dawn...I'll get us out of here....somehow..." Nelson said. Oh great! Thay makes me feel so much better! She thought. That's it...I'm bailin'...She walked away from Nelson to find her way out. Just then, something grabbed her from out of the darkness and pulled her into a storage room. It put a hand on her mouth so she wouldn't scream. Dawn turned around to find that it was Terry holding her.  
  
"Terry! Julie! What-!" Dawn began in surprise until Terry shushed her.   
  
"Listen, Dawn, I need that antidote.....and you're the only one that can get close enough to get it......Please.......I'm begging you........" He said as he gave her his puppy eyes.  
  
"Terry, I know you want the antidote.......and I really want you to get better.....but wanting me to do this was wrong on your part because it's like your using me."  
  
"Whoa! I'm not using you...I never would dream of doing that." Terry said giving her his serious yet compassionate look. Dawn looked at him in surprise.  
  
"Terry....." She said in a small voice.  
  
"So, let's try getting it together...?" Terry asked.  
  
"All right..." Dawn smiled. Just then, she realized something. "Hey, where's Julie?"  
  
"I dunno..." Terry said. "Something tells me she's up to something. Let's go look for her."  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
"Dawn? Hey Dawn?? Where are you?" Nelson called out after he soon realized she was missing*which was LONG after*. Where could she have gone? He thought to himself. Suddenly, he felt a pair of hands on his chest coming from behind. They started to feel around his chest. He gasped in surprise. Dawn?? I can't believe she's sucha animal! Could it really be that she REALLY does want me?? Who it really was, was Julie searching for the scroll that was laying in his inside pocket. Slaggit...She thought. I can't get it! If I don't start feeling her back, she probably won't think I'm man enough.......Nelson thought. I have to do this! Nelson then turned around once Julie had reached the scroll.  
  
"Oh, DAWN!!" He shouted as he went to go hug Julie. She stepped back in horror and moved out of the way for him only to hug a hanging skeleton with clothes on. His eyes were closed, so he didn't know exactly that it was Dawn, but he thought it was. Julie huffed and puffed quietly so Nelson didn't hear it and crept away.  
  
"Hmm...Dawn....Have you been eating...you seem kinda thin...............almost like I can feel your bones........." He said. Julie finally met up with Dawn and Terry, who were looking for her.  
  
"Where have you been?" Terry asked.  
  
"Umm....just looking for things....like THIS?" Julie said as she held up the scroll.   
  
"All right! Let's get outta here!" Terry said as they ran out, leaving Nelson to his little moment.  
  
"Do you think it's mean to leave Nelson here by himself like that?" Dawn asked.  
  
"Heck yeah! He got every bit of what he deserved! I wouldn't feel sorry for him at all...." Terry replied and then began to snicker.  
  
"Terry, that's a little mean, even if it is Nelson....." Julie said.  
  
"That may be so....but he needs a little bit of humiliation and rejection once in a while...." Terry answered.  
  
"I guess so........Wait a minute! Why am I feeling sorry for the moron?" Dawn said, thinking out loud.  
  
"Because you have a good heart....." Julie smiled. Dawn smiled back at her. "And then, there's that big mouth of yours.......and then you like to always get my case about everything......and then you just LOVE to sleep in for like EVER......." Dawn's smile had faded and then turned into a frown.  
  
"ALL RIGHT! I get it!" Dawn said.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
"This girl is very powerful...." Zio said as he reviewed her stats. "Very, very interesting...."  
  
"Brother....What exactly are you doing?" Eagle said as he came up from behind him.  
  
"Looking at some things....." He smiled. "I was thinking....we both know that she could see the future....So why not let her experience them...."  
  
"Experience them?" Eagle asked, feeling a bit of confusion.  
  
"With my power, I think I can tap into her powers...........She needs to suffer a little before her great finale........" Zio said and began to chuckle. "It has also been brought to my attention that we need some pure energy for our troops. Are the mutations of the bodies complete?"  
  
"Yeah. We just need the pure energy to make our army come alive. I have an idea as to how to get that. I can send some monsters over to Gotham City and they can steal all on the streets. Gotham is always full of energy."  
  
"Good." Zio said. "Let's have some fun.....Inouva, send your troops out there and make sure you gather as much energy as you can..." The figure Inouva stood in the dark and grinned.  
  
"You can count on me....master." He replied.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
Julie, separated from Dawn and Terry, and walked different ways. Dawn clenched onto Terry's arm and got closer to him. Terry was caught off guard by it, but he just smiled and looked at her.  
  
"Something the matter?" He asked. She looked down and sighed.  
  
"I can't help it, but all I've ever been thinking about is that vision that I had yesterday......It worries me a little......for what's in store for Gotham...." Dawn explained.  
  
"It seemed pretty big when you had it.......Do you think that this might be a sign for something?" Terry asked.  
  
"I'm not sure....It's like I'm being told that....it's the end..........and the person that was being strangled.....it's all so fast and it may come that way too. Something we might not be able to handle. Not that I think I should be putting negative thoughts on this...I know that the three of us can do it if we really tried. We're all powerful people."  
  
"Well, we know it has to have something to do with Zio and Eagle.....they are some really powerful people."  
  
"That's the part I worry about......" Dawn said as she tightened her grip a little on Terry. He turned to her and gave her a hug. "Hey, I want you to not think about it..." He said. "You're gonna put too much stress on your shoulders..." Dawn nodded her head in agreement. Suddenly, there was a flash of light that occured that only Dawn could see. Another vision, she thought, fearing the thought. Energy had surged out of her body and she fell to her knees.  
  
"Dawn!" He shouted. Her eyes opened to find that it was Gotham. The same vision? She thought. This time it was a different part of the vision. More was given to her with monsters that were attacking citizens. One slashed in the stomach, and another in the back. They were slaughtered by the monsters, being torn limb from limb. No, stop....She thought. Please stop! Just then, she saw Terry's face come in, and everything had stopped.  
  
"Are you all right??" He asked. "What happened?"  
  
"There are monsters downtown....They're taking out people left and right. We gotta get down there."  
  
"All right, let's go!" Terry said as he helped her up, and started to run to get Julie. He turned back to see that Dawn was still standing there, holding herself up by using a wall.  
  
"Dawn....are you coming?" He asked.  
  
"Yeah...You go on ahead and get Julie. I'll be there in a second so I can catch my breath from that vision. I'll be ok."  
  
"Okay......" He said hesitating, worrying about her, and ran off, to go find Julie. Dawn fell back down to her knees in pain. She slowly lifted her shirt to see that there was claw marks that were making her bleed severly. She groaned in pain. How did this happen...? It couldn't have been from the vision....could it?  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
"Do you think it was okay for me to leave Dawn all alone by herself...?" Terry asked as he was sitting in the batcave with Bruce.  
  
"Ter, Dawn is a strong person. She can handle herself. I just think that vision shook her up a bit. That's all." Celes answered through her communicator. "I'm sure she's probably on her way right now as we speak."  
  
"Still....I don't feel right about it." Terry said as he crossed his arms.  
  
"Dawn will be okay." Bruce said. Celes looked in front of her from her motorcycle and noticed something. "I see the monsters. I got this all covered." She said. She jumped off her motorcycle and used her ice attacks to freeze them. She got every single one, and then she stopped with a grin.  
  
"Nothing like the direct approach...." She smiled. The ice began to crack and they all came out of their frozen state. She stepped back in surprise but then got into her fighting stance. She began to attack strongly, using every technique that she knew to knowledge. Eventually, Celes became tired and she was slapped back into a corner of a wall by one of the monsters. Suddenly, a fire blasted their way and they all were crushed into a wall. Celes turned to see that a hand was coming out from the side. The rest of the body followed only to see Batgirl.  
  
"Man, what timing you have." Celes said. Batgirl turned to the monsters that were still living, only shooken up a bit by her blast.  
  
"Destroy the bat!" One of them said.  
  
"Come and get it, boys...." Batgirl grinned. They all went after her and she jumped over their heads to kick one in the back of the head. She used her attacks the best she could, and no matter how many times they began to fall, they kept getting back up. "Don't you guys ever die??" She asked. Celes finally regained some strength back and used more ice attacks.   
  
"Water----DRAGON!!!!" She shouted, turning water into solid ice that looked like a dragon(obviously). It thrusted at them at top speed, damaging them intensely.  
  
"EXPLOSION ARRAY!" Batgirl said, jumping in the air, using her magic to finished them off, and blowing them to bits. Batgirl landed on the ground, and suddenly her stomach began to hurt. She knelted down on one knee and held it. Celes looked over at her.  
  
"Hey, Batgirl, are you okay?" She asked.  
  
"...Yeah...just a little stomach cramp...." She said.  
  
"....! Batgirl, you're bleeding through your suit...!"  
  
"I'll be fine...It's noth-" Batgirl insisted. Just then, a person appeared to them. The two looked at the figure, trying to make it out.  
  
"Sending in women to do a man's job...?" The person said.  
  
"Who are you??" Celes asked.  
  
"I am Inouva....I am Zio's and Eagle's high commander....I have come here for something special...."   
  
"What are you planning to do?!" Batgirl asked.  
  
"...To take everyone's energy.....And since you're here....It's just a bonus for Zio...." He replied and then started to use his magic to steal Batgirl's energy. She jumped away from him and moved to higher ground, so he didn't take anymore people.  
  
"EMERALD TYPHOON!" She blasted him with a powerful set of winds. He stood there while it spun around him, but then he just broke out of them effortlessly. Batgirl awed in surprise as she held her guard up. That's impossible...no one could break out of that...! Inouva used his magic to make himself disappear. Batgirl and Celes kept their eyes on perfect watch.  
  
"Batgirl, can you locate him?" Celes asked. Dawn used her powers to try to find Inouva.  
  
"I....I......I can't find him." She responded in surprise. She was tripped backwards onto the ground. Batgirl got up only to be kicked over the ledge of the building. Celes grabbed her just in time for her to fall.  
  
"Hold on, Batgirl, I gotcha!" She grunted. Just as she pulled her up, Celes was also pushed over. The two both fell down the thirteen-story building, unable to get back up. Dawn took out a couple bombs and threw them to the ground. They exploded and became a jello-like pillow. Once they hit them, they went through them and the pillow had dissolved. Batgirl landed on her knee and panted hard in exhaustion.   
  
"Gotta....get outta here...." She huffed. Just the she was held up in the air. Batgirl looked down to see no one there, and that Inouva was holding her up with his power.  
  
"It has been nice knowning you, my lady..." He said as he gave her a kiss goodbye. He then used his magic and aimed it right at Batgirl. She let out a scream and suddenly, a crystal came out of her chest.  
  
"Batgirl!!!" Celes screamed. Inouva then aimed at her and did the same thing to her. Both lifeless bodies fell to the ground. Inouva went to go pick up both of their crytals. He was then shot in the back with a missle. Inouva fell to the ground and turned around to find that it was the batmobile with Terry inside. He kept shooting the missles until Inouva had stepped away from Batgirl and Celes. Blast it! Inouva thought. Well, at least I got some crystals...I'm out of here. With that, Inouva was gone. Terry secretly jumped out of the vehicle without anyone seeing and went over to them.  
  
"Batgirl...Celes...." He said in a soft tone. He looked at the crystals and put them by them, which made them go back inside of their bodies. Terry looked in astonishment. Their eyes had opened slowly.   
  
"........Terry?" Celes managed to say.   
  
"You're all right." Terry said, feeling relieved. Celes got up, and Batgirl tried to get up, but the pain of her wound hurt even more than before.  
  
"Batgirl, what's the matter?" Terry asked.  
  
"She's bleeding....We have to go back in order to get her treated." Celes answered.  
  
"I'll be okay.." Batgirl kept saying, even though she had trouble getting up. Terry and Celes had helped her up and they went to go put her in the Batmobile.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
Terry was wrapping up Dawn in bandages around her stomach to her chest. He felt really bad for her, seeing how much pain she was taking. Dawn was silent the whole time while Bruce and Julie chatted.  
  
"Yeah, Inouva got close to us, and almost stole something called energy crystals....I assume they're just all of our life energy, right?" Julie asked.  
  
"Yes. It's a good thing Terry got there in time for the both of you." Bruce replied. "Who knows what they wanted to use them for. They probably thought that you two had a lot of energy."  
  
"Possibly." Julie said, beginning to think.  
  
"What I don't understand is how Dawn got her wound in the stomach AND on her her back from what you guys told me." Bruce asked.  
  
"She didn't get seriously hurt from what I saw...did something happen, Dawn?" Julie asked.  
  
"It wasn't from the fight......." Dawn said as she sat up. "It was from my vision."  
  
"Y, you're vision??" Terry asked. "Dawn, you told me that you were fine...."  
  
"I know, I know...I just didn't want you to get worry. If these visions are for the good, and if it helps, I don't mind the pain at all." Dawn explained.  
  
"But look at what the visions did to you." Bruce said. "And that was for starters....Think of how it could be later on, when it intensifies."  
  
"I don't care anymore...! It's my job as an ancient and as Batgirl to protect and serve. I accepted this responsibility when my mother had passed away and I won't let her down."  
  
"It just doesn't seem normal for you to be taking the pain that you see going to other people...." Julie said.  
  
"That may be so, but at this point, I don't care. I'm willing to sacrifice myself." Dawn said. Terry looked at her.  
  
"Dawn, you can't be serious." Bruce said.  
  
"I'm dead serious. This is the life of an ancient. I must accept it." Dawn looked sad at the subject. She knew it was going to be hard, but she didn't care.  
  
"C'mon, Dawn....let me take you up to your room." Terry said as he took her by the hand and helped her upstairs. Once they got into her room, he helped her into her bed and she laid down. She sighed in relief and put her head down on the pillow. Terry looked at her again and sat on the side of the bed.  
  
"Why do you have to act so strong?" He asked.  
  
"I'm not trying to act strong...it's just my job to be like this....." Dawn said as she turned on her side.  
  
"To keep living day to day.....living the pains of other people....That has to be depressing."  
  
"That's what I was born to do. I feel the Earth's pain...so that means everyone in it as well...."  
  
"It's like you've got the whole world on your shoulders, though."  
  
"....That's because I do." Dawn said closing her eyes, but then she turned to Terry. "I'm sorry, Ter...I don't mean to do this... acting the way I am. I've been sucha burden to you....our fate has already been determined....I'll just be getting in the way of your bright future...." She said as her eyes closed again, and eventually fell asleep. Terry leaned in and kissed her on her lips softly.  
  
Dawn....He thought. The future is something we can change.......with our own hands.....When I'm around you, you goes through so much.....you suffers so much...a lot of it is for me....Dawn...My dream is.....to be close to you....just like this....that's all. And with that, he laid down beside her and held her close to him, falling asleep as well. 


	3. The Obsession

Chapter 3: The Obsession  
Author's note: Chapter 3...Well, I was always thinking that Max didn't really have much part of my fics in the past*which has only been really 1 full fic...*^^*'....*, so I decided, that I would dedicate this chapter to her. I mean, she's not really like this on a regular basis, but she tries to do what she can in order to help Terry and co....and sometimes the helping goes too far...Read on!  
  
~Aki~  
  
  
  
"I can't believe that happened!" Max said. "Are you guys going to be okay?"  
  
"Yeah...." Julie said.  
  
"What a JERK! If I were helping you guys, I bet we could have taken them down together!" Max said.  
  
"Well,let's not get into that again, all right?" Dawn asked. "As cool as it sounds, it's a lot of work, Max. Think of it as us doing you a favor."  
  
"Oh, give me a break...I'd rather be doing that than anything else......!" Max said.  
  
"Max, just drop it." Terry said as he put his hand through his hair. "Right now, we got to figure out how we are going to get Inouva to come after us again for the energy crystals...."  
  
"We know he's going to want to try again, so.....we might as well just sit and wait for him to come at us." Julie said.  
  
"Yeah, but while we wait, he'll just be taking other people's crystals and then wait for us. So we can't wait, but we can't strike immediately." Dawn explained.  
  
"That's true." Terry said. As they were talking about it, Max watched them in anger, and in depression at the same time. She was annoyed by the fact that she couldn't be apart of it....and she probably would never be allowed as long as they were around to keep reminding her. They think I can't handle it like they can, she thought. Just because they were chosen for this job, doesn't mean I can't do it just as well as they can. I just wish there was some way I could prove it to them.....  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
Max was walked out of the school when the tone went off and went home. On her way home, she heard someone's voice call her. She turned around to find Terry coming up from behind.  
  
"Max! Wait up!" He said. She stopped, and he finally had caught up to her. "Hey...I saw you walking home so I thought I would walk with you."  
  
"Oh...okay." Max replied as she sighed in a depressed tone.  
  
"Hey, Max...You're lookin' kinda glum.....what's wrong?" Terry said.  
  
"I'm in total dumpsville, Ter.....All of you guys are getting the fun of this mission and you're leaving me behind...And, they're going after you because you have strong energy...I feel like I should help." Max replied.  
  
"You think we have pure energy and you don't?" Terry asked. Max gave him a quick, mad glare, and he retaliated with, "...Which is a totally REDICULOUS idea!"  
  
"They steal other people's energy, right....? Energy that's pure...Maybe they haven't gotten to me because I've neglected something...maybe sports.....they think that my heart is out of shape and out of pure enthusiasm..."  
  
"You want your pure energy stolen?"   
  
"I dunno....I just want to be part of the team or something....if I could get them to get to me....we can take them out."  
  
"Max, there is no WE. You can't be apart of this....."  
  
"I know, I know! I can't.....Just forget I said anything." Max said and walked off. Terry watched her leave and sighed. He went to his room and picked up his phone, dialing Julie's number.  
  
"Hello?" The voice picked up.  
  
"Julie? It's me, Terry." Terry responded.  
  
"Hey, Ter...what's up?"  
  
"...I think we have a problem with Max..."  
  
"Why? What's wrong with her?" Julie asked.  
  
"She seems like she's getting more and more into this little job of ours...and I think she's actually going to try get Zio's and Eagle's attention and try to stop them herself."  
  
"Oh no........She can't...Someone has to talk to her about this..."  
  
"I don't think I would be the right person to do it."  
  
"I'm not either.......but what if...."  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
Max was in the gym by herself after school. She was really determined to make Zio notice her. She took out a whole case of volleyballs and went into the courts. Max took out the first ball and tossed it up in the air and began to serve them over hand. She kept going harder and harder each time she got another. The balls slammed to the ground at top speed, and Max didn't stop once until all of the balls were out of the case. She stood there, and panted. Max suddenly heard some groans...they sounded like they were in pain. She turned to the side to see that it was Dawn on the ground, in pain. Max gasped in surprise.  
  
"DAWN!!" She said as she ran over to her. "I didn't hit you with the ball, did I????"  
  
"Let's just say, I didn't move out of it's way fast enough....." Dawn groaned as she held her head. "But don't worry, I'm sure this pain will go away soon enough.." Dawn replied  
  
"What are you doing here?" Max asked.  
  
"Cheer-up stuff." Dawn replied. Just then, Julie came up from behind her to help her. "I heard you were depressed." She continued.  
  
"Oh! Well, I was the other day, but now I'm fine, see?? Guess I just needed to whack a few balls....Nothing like a good exercise to boost you spirits...Hahahahahahahaha...." Max explained as she walked away, and then her face changed rapidly to the scary, zombie look. "Like I would let anything like a little bit of jealousy take up ANY of my time. I'm totally over this by now...as if it means nothing." Dawn and Julie became confused over her actions. She then got up and walked over to her.  
  
"C'mon, let's get out of here...." Dawn said. "You need a rest..." They walked out of the gym and then went to the arcades. There, Max just ignored everything and decided to play games randomly. She went to an arcade game*the claw game...classic*.  
  
"Are you sure you're not depressed?" Dawn asked.  
  
"Uh huh....Positive." Max said, trying to concentrate on her game.  
  
"Then you don't want Zio and the others to come and get you?" Dawn asked.  
  
"Whoever said I did?" Max asked, trying to sound like her never did.  
  
"I little bird with black hair and brown coat......." Julie replied.  
  
"Ya see? I told you no one would want to have energy stolen by someone like Zio..." Dawn said to Julie.  
  
"Unless that nobody had pure energy that Zio and Eagle would not over look....energy that was purely dedicated and good...." Max said, going back into her zombie state, which it scared Dawn.   
  
"Whoa! Max, you're freakin' me out! Blink!" She said as she waved her hand in front of Max. She finally snapped out of it and turned to Dawn and Julie, who had stern looks on them. "You're obssessing."  
  
"You're not going to make Zio think that you're the best person for energy, are you?" Julie asked.  
  
"Well..I.."   
  
"STOP IT!" Dawn said as she took hold of her and started shaking her. "BAD MAX!!! HOW COULD YOU WANT TO DO THAT TO US??? WHY WOULD YOU WANT YOUR ENERGY STOLEN??????"  
  
"I'll get my energy back, don't worry!" Max hesitated, as she leaned against the game.   
  
"YOU WON'T BE ABLE TO GET IT BACK ONCE IT'S TAKEN!!! YOU'LL PROBABLY END UP DEAD!"  
  
"You don't know how I feel! You're apart of a team and then you get to do all this cool stuff!" Max replied as her hand was on the buttons and they kept getting pressed consistantly accidentally.   
  
"Yeah, and let me tell you, it's no picnic!!!!!!" Dawn replied. Just then the crane had piced up a zillion little stuffed animals. They looked over at it in shock and both said at the same time, "Jackpot!"  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
"You know, Max.....Zio tries to look at many types of energy in many different ways..." Julie began, and then began lying to make Dawn mad. "Like Dawn for example, she purely adores to sleep and make googoo eyes at Terry. But she's not a pure brain..or purely unselfish...or purely uncoordinated..."  
  
"That is CRUEL..." Dawn said angrily. Julie turned around and told her to shut up, she was only playing to get Max to believe.  
  
"So it doesn't mean that you're not worthy enough to get your energy taken away from you." Julie continued.  
  
"I don't care whether they come or not...."  
  
"Really?" Julie asked.  
  
"Dawn, can I ask you a favor?" Max asked.  
  
"Yeah, sure." Dawn replied.  
  
"Can you take these toys?" Max asked, with her bag of toys from the arcade.  
  
"Are you kidding? I'd just have to dust them every saturday........." Dawn chuckled.  
  
"But giving is a sign a pure unselfishness." Max replied. Dawn and Julie's jaws dropped in surprised and in annoyance.   
  
"No thanks....i don't want to encourage pure acts....Forget it." Dawn replied.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
Max went to the library that day once she departed from Julie and Dawn, but they followed her. She looked carefully at book, and one caught her eye. "This looks like a possibly winner.." She said as she picked it up. The title was, "A guide to a Pure Heart"*go fig*. Dawn and Julie were outside looking in on her.  
  
"So what do you think? Should we keep spying, or leave her alone?" Dawn asked.  
  
"Let's leave her alone...give her a chance to sort things out."  
  
"Yeah...She needs to find these answers on her own." Dawn said and the two left. A pure heart does what it thinks is right...it's dedicated and loyal and puts forth everything they have into that specific item, Max read in her mind. Well, I'm all of those things...what more does it take to get attention from them?   
  
"Hey Max..." A voice said. Max turned to see that it was Dana and Chelsea.  
  
"Oh, hi guys....Can I ask you something?" Max asked.  
  
"Yeah." Chelsea replied.  
  
"I wanna know how people with pure hearts act....do you think they're different?"  
  
"They help people. Pure hearts like to give..Why?." Dana replied.  
  
"They help people and they give......" Max replied in a soft tone for herself. Just then they heard something. It was a car outside, and it was advertising for a blood drive.  
  
"Don't be shy! Help! Give the gift of life!" a person shouted  
  
"Did it help?" Dana asked to her question.  
  
"TONS! BYE!" Max said as she race out there. She stopped, and went over to the confused Chelsea and Dana. She then handed them a couple of her stuffed animals from her bag. "Have a prize! From my heart! Bye!"  
  
"Wow...I guess she finally won something at the arcade." Dana smiled.  
  
"What do you think that was all about?" Chelsea asked.  
  
"Who knows...."  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
"I'm gonna help out...I want to give, give, give, GIVE!" Max said as she race over to the bloodmobile and went over to a lady. "I'm here to donate blood! Old fashion-giver, that's me!!" She said and walked in. Once she got her needle in, she looked away. O! That looks painful....She thought to herself. I'll be getting some serious brownie points in the evil department...I'll get my energy stolen for sure....  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
"This has gotten way outta hand, Terry..." Dawn said as she sat down. "I'm getting really worried about Max...She's too obsessed in this pure thing."  
  
"You have a right to be worried. We all are. But sitting here, talking to me about it won't do any good, you need to talk to her, and be there for her, just in case her wish doesn't come true." Terry replied.  
  
"You're right. I better go find her."  
  
"I'll go find Julie and we'll go catch up with you later, all right?" Terry said. Dawn nodded. He leaned in and kissed her gently on the lips and smiled. "Good luck." She smiled and nodded, then walked away.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
"Okay, this has gone way too far...She's practically a vampire living at a blood banquet." Julie explained to Terry when she heard that Max was going to another blood drive that was nearby.  
  
"What I'm afraid of is that she's attracting Zio's attention, and eventually he'll get Invouva to come after her." Terry said as he crossed his arms. "This has to stop. I think it's best to have her sit down and tell her that she's got a problem."  
  
"I've tried that, but she didn't listen....So I've come up with a plan to keep an eye on her twenty-four hours a day until this thing blows over..." Julie began. Terry stepped back in surprise.  
  
"Cold-Shifts??" Terry asked, with a sweatdrop on his head.  
  
"Yeah well.....what choice do we have?" Julie asked. Just as Max walked pass them without noticing them or her. Dawn ran up from behind of Max and called her name.  
  
"HEY! Max!" She said.  
  
"Hi, Dawn." Max said. "What's up?"  
  
"I need to talk to you really bad."   
  
"What's wrong? Are you having some problems with Terry?"  
  
"No, I wanted to just talk about you...and your quest for your energy...." Dawn said. As she was talking to her, a figure was in the shadows of an alley watching them as they walked. It smiled and started to walk towards them. "Target in sight." It said. The figure came out of the shadow and was out in clear daylight. It was Inouva! By lifting his hand in the air to direct it at Max. Dawn just saw Inouva come out and all of a sudden, there was a flash of light, and Dawn could see that Max had stopped in her tracks. Her eyes had darkened, and within a second, she could see her energy crystal right in front of her.  
  
"Max!" Dawn said.  
  
"My energy crystal...." Max said as she held it in front of her and fell to her knees.  
  
"Max! Are you all right?! Did Inouva get you?!" Dawn asked.  
  
"Oh...yea....Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, haa....." Max laughed, that made confused Dawn. "I gotta pure energy crystal, do ya see??"  
  
"Max, be careful. That thing is really fragile...Let me put it back for you, okay?" Dawn asked.  
  
"NO!" Max said and ran off. Dawn and Inouva ran after her to go get it. "I've got pure energy! I've got pure energy!! Ahahahaahahaha!"  
  
"Max! Put it back right now! C'mon!" Dawn said. Inouva used his magic and put a wall in front of Dawn and she smashed right into it. She fell backwards to the ground, but then she got up and used her magic to break it off so she can get through. GREAT, she thought. Now I'm even further behind and Inouva is gonna get to Max. I've gotta hurry. Julie and Terry weren't too far away from them and started to follow and eventually caught up with Dawn.  
  
"We've gotta catch her! Inouva is gonna take her energy crystal!" Dawn said, once she saw them.  
  
"......Do you want me to say 'D'UH!', or do you?" Julie said to Terry behind Dawn's back. They followed Inouva into an alley that led down into the subway. There, Max had collapsed and the crystal was still in once piece in front of her.  
  
"Finally...." Inouva said. "It's about time she finally gave out.....Quite a strong one....I'm sure her crystal is very powerful..."  
  
"Leave her alone!!" Inouva turned around to find Dawn, Terry, and Julie there.  
  
"Oh, great...it's you....Well, it's great to finally meet you princess..." He smiled.  
  
"Enough with the small talk...give us back Max right now!" Terry said.  
  
"If you want her, you're going to have to fight for her." Inouva replied.  
  
"That won't be hard..." Julie said as she used her power and threw sharp ice at him, but he dodged the attack. "Julie, Dawn, you both have to distract him long enough in order for me to get the crystal back inside Max. Do you think you guys can hold him off long enough for me to do that?" Terry asked them low enough so Inouva didn't hear him.  
  
"Yeah. We'll give you enough time." Dawn replied. "Just hurry as fast as you can." Dawn used her magic and shot a powerful beam of light at him so she could blind him for a split second. Terry ran over to Max, but on his way, Inouva was able to see him and stopped him by blasting him with magic between him and her, so he would stay away. Dawn and Julie both combined attacks at once in order to blast Inouva away from Terry. He hit the wall hard once he went back, and Terry was finally able to get close enough to Max.  
  
"C'mon, crystal....get back into Max....please...Hurry up." Terry said as the crystal slowly went back into Max. Terry sighed in relief, and then he picked her up into his arms. Once Inouva saw that the crystal had gone back, he started to curse under his breath.   
  
"How dare you put back that crystal! That's MINE!!!" He said as he threw a fireball at him and Terry quickly dodged away from it, but was blown away by the explosion. Dawn used her magic to put them into a forcefield so they wouldn't be hurt. Inouva used his magic to form a gust a wind to blow Dawn out of range. She slid a little, but tried to firmly hold her ground. Dawn then created a whole foggy illusion....where everything had disappeared. Inouva looked around hesitantly, seeing that his target was not in sight.  
  
"Where are you, YOU SOCERER! Why do you flee before me like a coward?!" He said angrily, knowing that it might get to Dawn, and it did. He's right...She thought. Abruptly, her magic had faded, because she couldn't concentrate on it, only for another vision. The same one, yet again, was filling her thoughts, and this time it was even stronger. Then it showed a completely separate one. It was of a little boy that was being killed....Dawn's eyes watched in terror, with tears forming. Why do these sad things always happen??! Who is this kid?! The forcefield had faded, and Terry was able to see that Dawn was in pain.  
  
"Dawn!" He called to her. Inouva was finally able to find Max and he went over to them. Julie ran as fast as she could and side-kicked him away from them.  
  
"C'mon! I got your power right here!" She said. "You want it? You're gonna have to get passed me!" Inouva gave her an angry look and then charged at her with some some grenades. He threw them at her and she tried to dodge, but the explosions were too big for her to move quick enough. Julie fell to the ground, exhausted. It's about time that they fell, Inouva thought to himself. Now I can take that crystal and be on my way. Zio will be most pleased....Once more he went over to Terry and Max to pick up her crystal, but then a line of fire came raging across between each other, with a voice shouting, "STOP IT!!!". The flames were at its hottest temperature, and yet it didn't seem to even bother Terry or Max. Inouva backed away from it's intense heat. They looked from where it came from to find that Dawn was on her knees, holding her one hand to her forehead, and the other out to cast another spell on him.  
  
"That's as far as you go...." She said in her low, angry tone. "One more step, and I'll have you fileted...." Inouva's eyes glared at her evily, but then he heard a voice. He looked around to find Zio there. He was the only one able to see him.  
  
"Inouva......Don't waste your time here.....Come back....we've got enough crystals..." He said. Inouva then nodded his head in understanding, a little angry over the fact that he had lost the round.  
  
"That's all for today, children. We shall play another time!" He said and disappeared. Julie and Dawn went over to the both of them. "Is she okay?" Julie asked.  
  
"She seems to be okay...." Terry said. Just then, Max's eyes began to slowly open. They smiled.  
  
"Hey, Max...how are you feeling?" Terry asked.  
  
"Fine I guess....." Max said.   
  
"Hey Max...." Dawn began. "Looks like we were right...you do have a pure energy.....you just couldn't believe it when we told you..."  
  
"I know...and...I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be sucha bother to you guys....seeing that you guys are busy with what you've got now. I was just really stupid to do this because I wanted to be apart of the team."  
  
"We know you were trying to help....but you have to leave this up to us, okay?" Terry explained.  
  
"Fine..." Max grumbled. "Can we go now?"  
  
"Yeah...we can." Terry smiled.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
After bringing Max home, Julie went back to Wayne Manor to get some rest before tonight. Terry went with Dawn for a small walk. She looked really tired, and seeing she was in a daze was kind of odd....His cell phone suddenly rang and he picked it up.  
  
"Hello?" He asked.  
  
"TERRY!!!" The voice shouted, sounding scared.  
  
"....Mom? Is that you?" Terry asked. "What's wrong, mom?" Dawn looked up at Terry to see his distressed look on his face.  
  
"You have to come home right away! There's something wrong with Matt!!"  
  
"Matt? What happened to him? Is he okay??" Terry asked.  
  
"Just come as fast as you can!" Mary said and hung up.  
  
"What's the problem?" Dawn asked, once Terry had put his cell phone away.  
  
"Something about Matt..." Terry said, feeling worried over his little brother. "Do you think you can use your magic to teleport us there?"  
  
"Yeah. Sure." Dawn said as she took hold of Terry's hand, and transported them right to the door of his apartment. He opened the door to find that Mrs. McGinnis was sitting on the couch, crying. Terry ran over to her and sat next to her. Once he got close to her, he was able to see Matt's body lying on the couch ever so still.  
  
"Mom, what happened? Is Matt okay?" Terry asked.  
  
"He hasn't moved...he was fine this morning, but then, he just stopped in his tracks while coming into the living room...nothing.....I've tried to make him wake up..but he hasn't...." She explained, feeling all these tears come down. Terry's expression turned surprised to hear the unexpected event come up. Dawn stood there silently, not wanting to get in the way of things. Terry's mother began to cry some more, going into Terry's arms. They held each other tight, not letting go and continued to weep for the poor child. Dawn looked at Terry to see that he had a serious but unemotional expression on his face. It was surprising. She could tell that he wanted to cry. Why is Terry trying to be so strong...? Is it for his mom so she doesn't feel worse? Dawn thought to herself. He is allowed to cry....right?  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
"You okay?" Dawn asked Terry as he set Matt in his room, until ambulance can come and set the time of death. He was silent, not wanting to speak about it. "Look, Ter....I'm really sorry about your little brother....I feel like this was my fault, and I just want you to know that I'm here for you...You don't have to act like this really big man....."  
  
"My poor little brother..." He began as he put his hand into a fist. "I just can't believe something like this could happen to him. He had no part whatsoever in this and yet....he had to suffer....because of me..."  
  
"Don't say that, Terry." Dawn said as she held onto his arm. "You know this couldn't be helped...You know it as well as I do...!" Terry looked at her, with his eyes begining to water. He hugged Dawn tightly, as he began to cry. Dawn was surprised as he just all of a sudden let it out, but she just hugged him back. She knew what it was like to lose a younger sibling....  
  
"Why did he have to die, Dawn...? Why is this happening to me??" He asked.   
  
"It's okay, Ter...just let it out..." Dawn said. "We're gonna work this out....and get teach that bastard a lesson he'll never forget...." 


	4. Life is too Short

Chapter 4- Life is too short  
  
~ Author's note: Man, did I have trouble trying to make this chapter*sob* I'm sorry it took me so long to put this up, but I needed some time to figure out how I wanted to write this out...Unfortunately, it didn't really come out the way I wanted it to...-.-'. I have been at a writer's block at this part for the longest period of time. SO GIVE ME SOME CREDIT!! However, I find it's still one of the dramatic chapters of this one..One of the first of many in this fic. It's also a pretty short if you look at all the other ones that I have written so don't fall over if it's too short. *^^* Enjoy! Although...you might need a tissue or two for this....Then again, you might not...  
  
~Aki~  
  
  
  
"Terry seems pretty torn-up about this...." Dawn said as she sat down on the couch to talk to Julie and Bruce when she had arrived back from Terry's house.   
  
"He has to be...He just lost his brother and father in the same year..." Julie replied. "I mean, Dawn, you should know where he's coming from, feeling like this, right? I mean, with your family and all..."  
  
"Yeah..." Dawn said as she lowered her head. The flashback of some happy memories appeared in her mind and she sighed. My family....Mom...Dad.....Tammy.......  
  
"I think it has some connection with all the children that were being killed....it seems only logical..."  
  
"That seems like a possibility.....but we need to keep Terry high in spirits.." Bruce said. "We still need him for this mission with Zio and Eagle."  
  
"Well, first we have to get him back on his feet by getting his physical strength back...have you developed the anitidote yet?" Julie asked.  
  
"Almost there...I just need a few ingrediants, and then it should be finished..." Bruce said. "I will have that finished as soon as possible in order to get him back out there with you two. He just needs to be out there in order to back into the swing of things."  
  
"Right."  
  
"Wrong!" Bruce and Julie turned to Dawn who was sitting there with a stern look on her face. "Terry doesn't need to be out there...that's not going to help a situation like this....he probably wants to be alone so he can sort things out by himself. It's not a good idea if you guys make him do this."  
  
"Well, what do you expect us to do?" Julie asked. "We need to act faster because the pace we're going in isn't that great...."  
  
"I know....if only there could be something we could do...." Dawn said as she pondered. "I'm going to go talk to him. I'll be back in a little bit, okay?" She took her purse and walked out of the mansion.   
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
"Mrs. McGinnis?" Dawn said as she knocked on the door. It creeked open to see Mary, looking like she had just cried her eyes out. "....Is Terry here?"  
  
"Yeah, he's here. Come on in, Dawn." She said. "He just went back into his room to go to sleep." Sleep? It's already past one o'clock...Terry doesn't sleep THAT late. She went to Terry's door and lightly knocked on that. There was no answer. She opened the door to find that Terry was on his bed. She slowly walked over to him and sat on the side of his bed.  
  
"Hey, Ter." She said with a timid smile. He was silent. Dawn laid down beside him and snuggled close to him. "C'mon, Ter. You know you could tell me anything..... I don't want you to feel alone....'cause you're not." Terry's eyes closed and then he took his hand to put it around Dawn's waist and held her close to him, making her caught off guard.  
  
"You've been through this enough, right?" He asked. "How do you get the pain to stop?"  
  
"It never does...." Dawn said.  
  
"Then how do you get through the day with it...?"  
  
"....I try to think of good times and that's how I know I'll always remember them instead of how ther were right before they died......Their death....was...so...sad....I don't want to think of them that way." Terry was silent. He turned his head the other way from Dawn, to not show her the sad expression he had on his face.  
  
"I...I just don't want to lose anyone else...I thought I could protect Matt and My mom, but I guess I was too distracted to do anything for them...and this is what happens...Dawn, I'm going to protect you and everyone else. I promise....I am sick of this sort of thing happening...."  
  
"Oh, Ter...." Dawn said as she held him tighter. Just then her eyes widened and sharply the pain rushed back to her for her same vision of the burning. Dawn held her head in agony, and Terry looked over at her to see her yelling. He held her close, to try to help matters, but he didn't know what to do. This time, for the vision, she was able to see the people. Dawn squinted her eyes but then she gasped in fear. The victim...the victim is....! The burning of the city was beginning to show the burn marks on Dawn's body when she was in the vision. Terry looked at it in surprise, wondering what the heck was going on with her. She then woke up to see Terry.  
  
"There's gotta be a way to eliminate these visions..." He told her.  
  
"I can't eliminate them." Dawn said.  
  
"But, look at what it's doing to you..." Dawn looked down at her legs and arms to see that there were burns across her body. She used her magic and healed them the best she could. "I don't mind them, remember? I can heal them..."  
  
"But what if they get as serious as killing you and then what?" Terry asked. Dawn didn't answer and she got off the bed.  
  
"We better get going. Bruce would expect us to be back at the manor shortly." Dawn said as she opened the door. He went to his closet and picked up his jacket to follow her out the door.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
"The antidote should be finished by tonight." Bruce said.  
  
"It sure has been taking you a long time." Julie replied. "I mean, it shouldn't be that hard to make an antidote for something like that."  
  
"The ingredients are hard to get. What do you want me to do about that??" Bruce asked.  
  
"To finish it! For God's sake!" Julie said as she snapped at him.  
  
"You're an extremely violent person for a girl!"  
  
"Yeah, well you're awfully slow for an old geezer like yourself!"  
  
"Take that back!"  
  
"MAKE ME!!!" Julie shouted at him. Just before there was going to be a World War IV, Dawn and Terry walked in the door. They stopped and looked over at them.  
  
"Are you feeling any better?" Bruce asked.  
  
"A little." Terry said, and Dawn was silent.   
  
"Good." Bruce said. "Now, to get down to some business....."  
  
"Have you noticed that the sky isn't as bright as it usually is?" Dawn asked out of no where. "It used to look so beautiful....Now because of this....It's like I'll never see another blue sky again."  
  
"Dawn?" Bruce asked. "Are you okay? What are you talking about?"  
  
"Oh!" Dawn said as she snapped out of what looked like a trance. "Um, nothing. It was nothing at all. I'm sorry." She said as she walked away from them and ran up the stairs.  
  
"Dawn, just be sure to be dressed and ready to go." Bruce called to her as she ran up. She nodded her head in understandment, not looking at any of them as she left.  
  
"That was sure weird. Did anyone notice how Dawn seemed to be acting a little strangely?" Julie asked.  
  
"Very..." Bruce replied.  
  
"Dawn has been acting weird ever since she had that vision..." Terry explained. "She won't tell me what she saw and she has been really quiet for most of the time on our way here."  
  
"Hmmm.." Bruce pondered.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
Dawn had her suit on and she was staring out the window as she saw a storm coming in. She pulled her glove on and sighed. This can't be...I can't believe this is going to happen....Well, if it happens, it happens. I just have to accept it. That's how fate is. You can't really change how it's going to be because you know something worse might even come up if you think you have solved that problem. It's not worth it anymore....why are we fighting anyways? Why am I fighting? War never stops between one another and all we're doing is preventing it for a day...what good is that? What good are we if we can't even stop the fighting anyways. All my life, I have only known about one thing: To fight. In order to stay alive after my family's passing, it made it difficult for me as young as I was, to survive. Before I came to Bruce, I was getting into a lot of street fights, fighting for money and to be the best that there was. All I ever wanted in this world was to be happy with someone I loved and not have to have a care in the world...I guess that fate never wanted to smile upon me....We do so much for this city, and yet, there's no form of gratitude. Not in gifts, but I meant in luck. Luck...and Time. Two things that I will never get. If anyone is listening to my thoughts up there that guards my friends and Terry.......Please.....please take care of them. Don't let them out of your sight.   
  
"It's getting pretty bad out there..." A voice remarked. Dawn turned around to find Terry standing at the doorway.  
  
"Terry...." Dawn said.   
  
"How are you holding out?"   
  
"Umm...I'm fine, thank you!" Dawn smiled.  
  
"You know...I'm really worried about you, Dawn. You've been acting really weird today and I just wanted to know what's been up with you."  
  
"Terry, I'm fine. Really, I am." Dawn said as she got up to walk over to her dresser. He walked over to her and placed his hands against her shoulders.  
  
"Please, Dawn...tell me what's going on. I don't want you to be alone with these problems and try to solve them on you own. You know you can't do this by yourself and you know you could always come to me. I don't want you to feel this way. I feel like I should be apart of this, so if it's your problem, it's mine as well."  
  
"Oh, Ter...." Dawn said as she closed her eyes. "You can't help me with this...no one can....I'm sorry if you feel offended by it, but this has to be something I have to face alone." She turned around and hugged him tightly. Terry hugged back, feeling that there was something really bad coming.  
  
"Dawn, if you don't want to tell me.....that's fine." He said softly to her. He could then see tears falling down her cheeks. Terry wiped them away with his hand and then lifted her chin to kiss her softly on the lips. Dawn kissed him back for the longest period of time, never wanting to let go. Once they had departed from each other, they stared into each other's eyes.  
  
"Once Bruce finishes the anitdote...I will join you guys as soon as possible, okay?" Terry explained.  
  
"Terry, you shouldn't go out with us....Not even Julie should be going..." Dawn said.  
  
"Why not? Is something bad going to happen?" Terry asked. Just then, Julie walked into the room and knocked on the door lightly.  
  
"Dawn, let's get going." She said. Dawn looked at her and nodded her head. She gave him one last kiss on his lips again.  
  
"Bye." She said and left with Julie  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
"SO....." Celes began. "Where are we going?"  
  
"Where disturbance was coming from..which was in the center of Gotham...." Bruce said through the communicator of her motorcycle.  
  
"And that would be...where...?"  
  
"Look up." Bruce said. Celes looked up from her communicator, and noticed that lightningh bolts were flying all over the place.   
  
"Oh....makes sense...." She said. "Hey, Dawn, you're allowed to make a comment you know...." But there was no answer. "Dawn?"  
  
"What?" Dawn answered as she flew the batmobile at an unusual fast pace.  
  
"You've been silent this whole way....Did....something happen?"  
  
"No..nothing happened."  
  
"Was it something between you and Terry?"  
  
"No...There's nothing going on between us. I just really don't feel like talking right now."   
  
"Are you sure you don't want to talk?" Celes asked, feeling concerned.  
  
"Yes." Dawn said, trying to feel confident with her answer. "Thanks for trying to help, Julie...But this is something you can't help me on."   
  
"Now there's something definitely wrong. Dawn, what's going on?"  
  
"Just stop asking questions, okay? It's for your own good and it just makes things better off than they already are!" Dawn snapped. Celes then fell silent. Dawn had then just realized what she had done and sighed. ".....I'm sorry, Julie...I...I didn't mean to do that...I'm just in a little bit in a bad mood...."  
  
".....It's okay, Dawn. Don't worry about it. Let's just drop it okay?" Celes asked. Batgirl nodded her head and replied an "ok" to the question. I just wish I could tell you, but I can't.....You're a good friend, Julie. But I can't. When they had finally arrived to the destination, Batgirl got out of the batmobile and Celes jumped off her motorcycle. They flew up to the top of the building, to find that Eagle and Zio were both there, waiting for them.  
  
"Well, well....we meet again, eh?" Eagle began. "It's good to see you ladies for the second and very last time..."  
  
"Can it, Eagle! Today is different! We're gonna take you all down once and for all!" Celes snapped back.  
  
"Oh, you think so? Just with me here before, you couldn't take me down, and now that my brother is here, you don't stand a chance." Eagle said. Batgirl then used her magic to create a beam of light and blast it right at them. The brothers had moved away from the attack and then combined their attacks together to blast Celes and Batgirl out of the way. In mid-air, Celes exploded by using her "ICE STORM!" She froze the two down to the ground so they couldn't move and Batgirl followed up by firing a fire tornado at them. Zio broke the ice and used his his barrier to block the powerful attack. Hmm...She's stronger than I had ever imagined, He thought. However...that's not going to stop me.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
"How much longer, Bruce?" Terry asked as he kept pacing back and forth.  
  
"It might take some time....." Bruce replied, pouring liquids together.  
  
"But we don't have that kind of time, Bruce. Dawn and Julie are out there again and they're confronting both Zio and Eagle." Terry explained. "I have to get out there as soon as possible."  
  
"I know...." Bruce said. "I'll work as fast as I can....I'm getting kind of worried about them....They haven't responed back ever since I last talked to them about anything."  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
"Aaaah!!!!!!" Batgirl shouted as she was hit by a huge ball of flames. She went back into the wall and slid down against it. I don't know how much I can't take of this, she thought. I thought one was bad, but this is way worse. She got back up, hesitating to stand. "Lightning bolt---come forth!!" She said weakly as she performed her attack, making it as strong as she could. Zio got in front of Eagle and used his barrier to block off the attack. Most of it was blocked until the end, where it broke through and hit him against the shoulder. He got down on one knee and held his arm, which was now bleeding. Batgirl, now standing with a small smirk on her face, and panting, she looked at him with a stare. Celes came up and used her freezing ray to help her out, but Zio quickly dodged.   
  
"I have had it with you pests...." Zio said as he got up. "You've had your fun, but now I must conclude this game......I have engagements to keep, and I can't be late.." Batgirl lowered her head in anger and attacked him in a vicious manner, only to have his hand wrap around her neck. She struggled to get out of his grip, but it was useless. Celes came up from behind and tried to attack, but it seemed that he had a shield against him, which made it impossible to be able to touch him. Zio walked to the edge of the building where everyone in Gotham at the bottom could see her.  
  
"Gotham....!" Zio shouted so everyone could hear. People looked up to see them. "Is this your savior?? Well, to let you in on the information, your SAVIOR has been defeated! I will take over Gotham and the rest of the world! Your savior is as good as dead!" He removed her mask forcefully and dropped it into the city below.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
"It's done." Bruce said as he held up the anitdote. He handed it to Terry, and he drank it up. "Better make a real quick test. Pick something up." Terry then picked up the table, without really trying.   
  
"All right! I'm back!" He said as he dropped the table and put on his suit to run out into Gotham as quick as he could. Dawn, Julie...Please be all right.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
"Well, then, Dawn..." Zio grinned. "You served your purpose in this world...and now you're just not needed."  
  
"No matter what happens to me....Terry will stop you." Dawn struggled to say.  
  
"Terry will be my next target once your out of the way. He's as good as dead at this point." Zio chuckled. That's when He started to flare up his magic and began to suck the life out of Dawn. She screamed in agony, not able to get away from his grip. She struggled with all her might, but everytime she tried, it just made the pain worse.  
  
"DAWN!!!!" Celes shouted, but then Eagle held her down so she wouldn't move. She tried, but it was useless. Meanwhile, Terrywas flying at top speed, trying his best to get there. I'm almost there...He thought. Once Zio thought it was enough, he let go. Dawn's eyes became darkened and cold, and she left from his hand to drop thirteen stories... Terry noticed that there was a figure falling from the building and once he used his suit to magnify the image, his eyes widened in fright and used his rocket boosters on his feet to chase after her. She dropped into his arms, lifeless.  
  
"Dawn! Dawn!!" Terry said as he shook her over and over again. There was no answer. No....Please God...No.....Not Dawn too....! He landed on the ground, and took off his cowl. Terry held her tightly as tears formed in his eyes. Meanwhile, Celes was still being held by Eagle, but she was able to break free of his grip and blew him away with her ice attack so she could get away. She jumped off the building and used some more ice to break her fall by aiming downward at the ground. Once she had made it, she ran over to Terry, who had his face in Dawn's chest.  
  
"Terry..? Is..Is Dawn....?" Celes asked.  
  
"She's gone..." He sniffed as he wiped away his tears.   
  
"Hey, look! It's Batman! And he's unmasked! So is Batgirl!" One person said as they walked by, but then decided to walk over to them. Celes used her ice to block them off and then turned to Terry once more. "We have to get out of here..." Terry looked at her and nodded. With Dawn in his arms, he flew out of sight while Celes went to go get her motorcycle to drive back to Wayne Manor.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
Terry laid Dawn on her bed, and he kneeled down beside it, taking her hand, and holding it close to him. He brushed his lips lightly against it while tears fell upon them.  
  
"You used to be so full of life, and now....you're so cold and still.....This is all my fault....I...I wish there was something I could have done.....I just wish it were me that's dead right now instead of you. It should've been me who took that shot. I know I won't forgive myself for this and you shouldn't either....I was no good to you as a friend and I'm no better being your boyfriend....I wasn't help to you either, and look what happens....(sniff)(wipes tears)I wasn't that great of being your prince in shining armor either. If only I had been there, you would be alive now.....Now you won't be able to laugh, or cry...or even get angry...And I'll never get to hold you into my arms. I just wanna let you know that, you've been the best thing in my life ever since I've known you....(sniff)I'm sorry that I never really cherished those moments and took them for granted in a sense...I've never stopped loving you, Dawn.....Not one day in my life.....and I never will....okay? And I'll never forget all the great things you've shown me.... You....mean so much to me......(sniff) I want to hear your voice again, Dawn....please.....just once.....damnit....! Why....?(sniff)"  
  
"Terry..." Bruce said as he walked into the room. "I'm sorry..."  
  
"Why are you sorry? You have nothing to be sorry for..." Terry said, trying to act like he never cried.  
  
"I do...I always knew that something like this would happen....That's why I never wanted you or anyone else to get invovled in this business...I never told you how much it puts on the brain...How it would affect you if someone had passed on."  
  
"Bruce...It's not you fault at all.."  
  
"And it's not yours either. You shouldn't blame yourself that you couldn't control. No one else does...so neither should you."  
  
"I made a promise to her, Bruce !" Terry said as stood. "I promised that I would protect her at all times, no matter what kind of mess we're in! It IS my fault because I wasn't there to protect her!"  
  
"Promises like that are not easy to keep. I'm sure that Dawn would understand that." Bruce said with firmness. Terry was silent, but then his anger had gotten bigger and he punched a wall. He leaned against the wall, with tears coming down.   
  
"Why....why does everyone around me pass away??" Terry asked. Bruce put his hand on Terry's shoulder for comfort as he just continued to cry again. The love of his life was gone, and it was the last straw for Terry. He decided that he should make the decision that he should of made a long time ago......To give up being Batman! 


	5. Lost Hope

Chapter 5: Lost Hope  
  
Author's note: Okay...I know...I've gone from really funny to dead serious. Well, that's life. I can't do anything about that. Sorry! This chapter invovles Terry's emotional side, and DON'T take any offense to anything that happens beyond this point! If something happens that is nothing that would really happen in the series, it's just not real! It's just how the fic is turning out, okay? If you have questions on it, e-mail me!  
  
~Aki~  
  
  
Terry had just got home, and he hung up his coat on the hanger. His mother came in the room and gave him a hug. "Hello, Ter..." She greeted him.  
  
"Hi, mom." He replied.  
  
"I was worried about you. It was all over the news that those men Eagle and Zio are going on rampages by killing more people. They also reported that thet killed Batgirl..It was so sad.....Did you hear that while you were at Mr. Wayne's with Dawn and Julie?" Terry lowered his head and replied. "Yeah, mom...I heard....more than you think..." and walked off to his isolated room, leaving his mom confused over what he had just said. Terry sighed and then walked over to the window. He saw that more monsters were roaming the streets and that there wasn't a soul out there. Probably too scared to come out, Terry thought. He closed his eyes and then leaned back against the wall where he sat by the window.  
  
*Flashback*  
  
"That means...somewhere along your line of a family tree...was a surviving Dertorian. So why did you hide them from us...? From me...?" Dawn asked, with deep concern.  
  
"I was embarrassed...I couldn't show them to anybody....too ashamed to say anything to anyone about them....I would've been considered a freak....the thought of rejection.... I should have never brought them out into the opening...." Terry said as he turned away. Dawn walked up to him.  
  
"I think there's nothing wrong with them...actually I think they're beautiful...." Dawn blushed. Terry then looked up at her in surprise.  
  
"....."   
  
"You have nothing to be ashamed of, Ter." Dawn said. "If it weren't for them, I would be laying on a pile of sharp rocks." She then gave him a hug, to soothe him of his depression. His face began to blush a little, having Dawn that close to him. "I promise I'll keep this a secret, if you want me to...."  
  
"Thanks Dawn..." Terry said, a little relieved, making the hug a little tighter.  
  
*End of Flashback*  
  
She was the only one who really understood how I felt about things....Terry thought. Keeping my wings a secret...Because she cared....What did I ever do for her...? She was so good to me........My.......Only........Love........I was a fool to believe in love....in hope....in life....everything that I have loved has died on me....I have nothing more to live for....It all ends today...  
  
"Terry?" A voice called to him. When he turned around, he found Julie there, just closing the door after her.  
  
".....What are you doing here?" Terry asked in a somewhat cold tone as he turned to look back at the night scenery.  
  
"Do you wanna talk?" Julie asked.  
  
"There's nothing to talk about, Julie...."  
  
"Oh? I see...." Julie replied. She then walked over to the window and sat next to him. "I didn't catch you earlier....I wanted to see how you were doing.....seeing as to what happened to Dawn and all.....Plus, Bruce told me to come and see you since you ran out the door without saying anything to him. He tried calling you on your cell phone, but it was turned off. We need to plan our next stradegy in order to take down Zio and Eagle."  
  
"Julie.....just leave me alone for awhile...I need some space....."  
  
"But Ter....I need you to come with me back to the manor to discuss-"  
  
"I'm not going, Julie! My mind's been made up....I'm not doing anymore stradegies...I'm not doing anymore fighting...I'm SICK and TIRED of being Batman...!"  
  
"Then what do you want me to do? I can't do this by myself.....We need you. GOTHAM needs you."  
  
"Then go find someone else that's willing to sacrifice their loved ones...one that is not going to care as to what happens to anyone around him....I won't take part in this anymore!" Terry then buried his face into his hands. Julie lowered her head anc closed her eyes. "You know....You're not the only one...who's suffering over this loss...Me..Bruce...We're ALL grieving over Dawn. She was MY best friend! Dawn was just as much apart of you as she was apart of ME. You can't just think about your own feelings...you gotta think of everyone else's as well! I mean, you're usually the one to be that way, but lately, I don't know anymore......I'm trying...so hard....to keep us all together, and you're not helping matters...!" Julie said as she began to bawl into her hands. Terry looked over at her and got up so he can go over to her to have her cry on his shoulder.  
  
"I'm sorry..." Terry said to her. "I...just have way too much on my mind right now and I can't be Batman anymore...it's too hard for me to go through all these kinds of hardships......"  
  
"But, Terry....this is really important...Gotham needs us to take out Zio so we can move on with our lives...That's what are purpose right now is to do. To fight for Gotham no matter how tough the opponent is. You understand that, don't you?"  
  
"You don't get it, Julie. I can't be Batman anymore...It was okay in the beginning, but now....all of this comes up and it's just tearing me apart. No one deserves to live like that." Terry explained to her. Julie looked away from him and held her arm.  
  
"That may be so, Terry, but this is something that we're all apart of....We fight these things until the end, remember?" Julie reminded him. Terry looked down, knowing that she was right.  
  
"Yeah, well....this is different....."  
  
"That's no excuse!" Julie shouted at him. The two were silent for a moment, not believing how they were acting to each other. Terry then stepped away, one step closer to the window.  
  
"You're right.....it isn't an excuse...." Terry said, as he kept walking backwards to the window.  
  
"No...Ter....I'm sorry...I didn't mean to....I wasn't thinking...."  
  
"No, that's all right. You finally made my mind feel clear about things for once.....I thought I could be living the good life with a beautiful wife, a couple kids and a great job.......That was just all a fake...I'll never have that kind of fantasy because of the way life works...I can't be happy...The moment I chose to be Batman, I was destined to end up like Bruce.....Alone. I'm not going to end that way!" Terry said. He opened the glass window up, and Julie went over to him fast.  
  
"Whoa! Don't!" She said as she took hold of his arm.  
  
"You can't stop me from making this decision. I've had it living the way I've been living....this is the only resolution...."  
  
"Terry! You CAN'T!" Julie said as she tugged on his arm. He pushed her away and jumped out. Just when Terry was plunging at fast speeds, he noticed something out of the corner of his eye. He looked back to find that Julie was now falling with him!  
  
"What are you doing?? Are you crazy??" He asked.  
  
"I was going to ask you the same question...!" Julie replied. "Now you've got two lives on the line.......What're you going to do?" Terry was silent and looked down to the road he was going to hit in a short while. "Terry, do you think that Dawn would want you to be doing this? I may not be Dawn, and I'm not trying to be, but I can sure try to help in every way that I can!"  
  
"Well, this isn't one of the things she would do, would she?" Terry asked.  
  
"How do you know that?? She loved you so much that she woulda done anything for you...! You know that as well as I do!" Julie said. She then looked in front of her to see that she was losing time, for the ground was getting closer. "Terry, if you do this, you'll be hurting all the people that love you and care for you! Do you want that to happen....? Ad what about your mom?? She first lost her ex-husband, then her youngest son, and then, if you were next, then she would probably not have any strength to go on....! And me and Max and Bruce's loss isn't any better!" Terry was silent. He refused to say a word.   
  
"Terry! Listen to me!" Julie said, panicing even more than ever. "TERRY!!!!!!" Just as they were at an end to their life, about to hit concrete, Terry let his wings come out of his back and he held Julie close to her in order to fly back up to his room. Julie's heart was beating a million miles an hour, relieved that Terry had changed his mind. He let her into the room first and then his wings went back into his back.  
  
"What made you change your mind?" Julie asked.  
  
"I dunno...Just the miscellaneous things you told me...It made me realize that I have some unfinished business to take care of..." Terry answered. "By the way...How did you know that I was going to save you in the end? If you didn't change my mind?  
  
"I didn't. I just went with my gut.....and hoped that I would get through to you." Julie smiled. Terry then smiled back  
  
"Thanks, Julie.....Now we have to go to Wayne's...I have a request to make..." Terry said.  
  
"A request?" Julie asked. "What kind of request?"  
  
"I'll tell you on the way there." Terry said. I didn't think about it before, but I think it's a good favor to ask....if it'll only get me back the way I want to be, Terry thought to himself.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
"It won't be long now...." Zio smiled. "With the ancient out of the way, we can make plans for her revival and influence her to our side......"  
  
"Father....what are your wishes from here?" Midnight asked, bowing to him.  
  
"My dear, sweet Midnight...You have done more than what is asked of you..." Zio grinned. "I have another task for you to perform...."  
  
"And what's that?"  
  
"To keep Batman from being on the light side.....we will eventually lure him over as well, and once we have the ancient and the dertorian, the army shall be complete. I want you to do everything you can in your power to prevent from allowing us to dominate this world."  
  
"I am counting on you, Midnight. Failure is out of the option."  
  
"Yes! I will do whatever you command me to do, Father!" Midnight replied and with that, she disappeared into the darkness to begin her reign. I will make sure that he will lose all hope in his heart...Midnight thought. Losing all his good memories of his beloved Dawn....and filling them of me and only me....So I guess this is basically a bonus for me...  
  
"On another note, we shall capture the other one as well so we will have no problems to worry about." Zio said to himself. "Tatra....Tarta...."  
  
"You called, Lord Zio?" The two voices said simultaneously.  
  
"I want you two to both make preparations to have Celes come here. I'm sure you both won't fail?"  
  
"Failure is out of the question..." Tarta said.  
  
"We don't know the meaning of the word failure.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
"You want to revive Dawn??" Bruce asked as he and Max were sitting on the couch, after Terry had explained everything.  
  
"Yes...It seems a little difficult, but I know we can if we really try." Terry said.  
  
"But, even if we use all the tools and Dawn's book a spells, there is a very high risk..." Max questioned.  
  
"Of what?" Terry asked.  
  
"Max means, if we try to bring Dawn back, she may not be the same Dawn we know. For all we know, she could be brought back as an evil person." Julie explained. "As much as that seems like a good idea, we shouldn't take the risk. I mean, I would love to have Dawn come back to us, but then there is always that cause-effect thing goin' on with it. The last thing we need is to have another person ready destroy everything...."  
  
"I know...and I'm prepared for it." Terry replied. "If....If Dawn doesn't come back as a normal person, the way we want her to, and becomes some kind of evil person...I'm going to fight with her. I don't care what side she's on, as long as I'm with her. I'm not going to make the same mistake twice....and if that means I have to fight you....then so be it." Terry said.   
  
"We'll try all we can to keep her on the good side so it never comes to that." Bruce said. Terry smiled.  
  
"Good." He replied.  
  
"Then that means that we're going to need an ample supply of you energy and thought in order for this resurrection to happen." Julie said. "I remember reading it in the book once that we need someone who has a strong will in order to perform this spell, otherwise it won't work....so that means Terry will be the one to be going."  
  
"That's fine with me." Terry replied.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
"Don't worry Ter." Max said as she was working on the controls. "We'll bring Dawn back in a flash."  
  
"Are you sure this is going to work?" Terry asked as he laid down next to Dawn's body. He got close to it, grabbing hold of her hand.  
  
"It has to." Bruce replied. "Now, when you go in there, there isn't much we can do beyond that point."  
  
"You need to just remember your wish, got it?" Julie told him. Terry looked at her and nodded his head in understandment. "All right." He said. He went into the tube-looking pod and Bruce closed it behind him. There, Max was able to start the process, and all of a sudden, Terry's body was beginning to float in mid-air. Just hang in there, Terry, Julie thought. And keep it together....Don't let us down...  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
Where am I? Terry thought as he floated in the darkness. I can't see a thing in here. There was a bright light that flashed in his face and he covered his face so he wouldn't be blinded by it. Once Terry's eyes were able to get used to the lighting, he noticed a building that looked very familiar.   
  
"Hey, that's Hamilton High..." He began, as he was getting various images from his mind. "Max...Julie......Dawn...That's right. We are together at Hamilton High....that's how we met each other...But, if the three of us weren't there, I wonder what would have happened...*flash to another picture of fighting* We fought so hard in the past, and we really didn't know each other in the beginning, but that's all we had...each other. That's why we were able to fight together and overcome many obstacles. We were able to fight together to face our enemies...But...if we weren't together...what would have happened? Would we have died? What I have died? What would have happened to us? Would we have disappeared into history...? Julie, Bruce, Max , and Dawn are my partners..."  
  
"But...." A voice said out of nowhere.  
  
"If...If....Dawn and Julie weren't there...." Terry began once again.  
  
"What would have happened?" He said with the voice joining in. He looked around and noticed that a girl stood close by. "Midnight..." He said, in surprise to see that she was even there.  
  
"If those two weren't there, you wouldn't have to face all those hardships..." Midnight said as she showed the hard parts of their fights in Gotham.  
  
"That's not true. There were definitely tough times, but I made the decision to fight them on my own. I don't blame Julie or Dawn." Terry replied.  
  
"It was hard though...and it hurt." Midnight said, encouraging it.  
  
"Yes..."  
  
"Think of it this way...if you hadn't become Batman, you'd never had to face all those misfortunes..."  
  
"It was hard, but we did it together..." Terry replied. Just then an image had shown a familiar face and he gasped in surprise. It was Lantis.  
  
"So, what about him?" Midnight asked. " You killed him, didn't you? It was painful...It broke your heart...You didn't want something like this to happen, did you?" There were shots of the fight between them and Lantis.  
  
"...Back then, I was trying to be a hero." Terry explained. "I didn't understand why Lantis started the war or what his true feelings were. I had no idea it was so...so sad...."  
  
"That's right. You didn't know...But....you killed him." Midnight said. It then showed a picture of another familiar face once they saw the death of Lantis replay before his eyes. "LADY MORGANA!!!" He shouted as he saw him fighting her with Dawn and Julie. The battle was long and they had fought til the end.  
  
"That's right...You killed her too, didn't you?" Midnight asked.  
  
"Morgana....." Terry said in a low tone.  
  
"That broke your heart too, didn't it? It was so hard..."  
  
"This can't be true....." Terry and Midnight said at once. "This can't be.....NOO-OO!!!!!" The pictures that Terry had already seen were being played backwards right before his eyes, going faster and faster.  
  
"It was hard...because you were in a fight that you had nothing to do with. Your heart was wounded. Gotham and Dawn were the ones who got you involved in this whole thing. Poor little Terry...Terry got his hear broken in two because of the ancient. You faced all these things when Dawn came here. There's no reason for you to protect this city or the people in it...!"  
  
"No...!"  
  
"Terry.....let's forget all of this and be together. Just you and me...Terry...I love you. As long as I have you I don't need anyone else... Terry...come to me...." Midnight said.  
  
"Julie....Max..........Dawn...." Terry said, just thinking about them. The area he was in became light again and he was able to see Midnight.  
  
"Come on...Right over here...Come on...." She said as she held her hand out to him. He was in shock, feeling every bone in his body could not move. Midnight floated over to him and all of a sudden, wrapped her arms around him tightly. Terry gasped in surprise while Midnight gave him an evil grin behind his back.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
Meanwhile, Max was working on machine, making sure that everything was going smoothly. Terry was surrouneded by white light, but then, she noticed something. There was a dark shadow that was growing inside of the pod.   
  
"No! Terry, you musn't!" Max said. "Don't walk towards the shadows...!"  
  
"Max, what's going on?" Julie asked her.  
  
"Terry's being influenced to go to the dark side. We're losing him."  
  
"Then we have to get him back...!" Bruce said as he took control of the buttons.  
  
"...I'm going to try to help him." Max said.  
  
"What do you plan on doing??" Julie asked. "This is something that we both want..I need to be apart of this as well. Terry can't do it by himself. That's why I should do everything in my power to save him. I will go in there and I will bring him back with me safe.."  
  
"...Be sure to return alive and well." Bruce said. Max nodded and walked closer to the pod. She pressed her hands up against it and began putting her own mental energy into it, starting her process to bring Terry back. Please hold on, Terry...She thought.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
Terry was with Midnight all alone in a black room, where there was nothing in sight but them. Midnight had Terry close to her than she had ever before. She was enjoying every minute of it. Just to be together was all that she ever wanted. Now that Dawn was out of the way, they could be together. Midnight knew that he was trying to revive her, but she wouldn't allow it at all.  
  
"Midnight...." Terry began, with a blank expression.  
  
"You don't hav to worry about anything at all..." Midnight said as she came closer to Terry "You can stay here with me...just think only of me, okay? And see me...Don't let anyone else fill your thoughts and you heart....  
  
"What about Dawn?" Terry asked, with his eyes that were darkened.  
  
"You're still thinking about your love of your life, aren't you? Try and remember, Terry...has Dawn or Julie ever been nice to you?" Midnight asked as she stroked his hair.  
  
"Dawn and Julie are apart of me...they're like family...They were alwasy kind to me, and they never tried to hurt me." Terry replied.  
  
"Is that so? Are you sure you're not remembering things differently, Terry?" Midnight asked. Then, Terry's eyes became wide and he saw a few more images from the past.  
  
*flashback*  
  
"Don't act like you're going to be sad about this matter....." Dawn said as she held onto him by his neck. "Because everything that happened to us was your fault..."  
  
"Dawn...!" Terry thought when he watched the sequence.  
  
"If you were not Batman, we would have never got caught in this mess...."  
  
"Julie....Dawn...why? We all agreed that nothing would ever get in between us. And that's the same reason for why we have been fighting for all this time. It doesn't matter now because we can't go back. No matter what happens, we will fight together until the end as one." Terry said, but then Julie and Dawn appeared before him.  
  
"No way." Julie replied to her.  
  
"I would have to agree with Julie...The three of us were not obligated to defend this city. I just don't understand the logic as to why I even did it in the first place because all it was, was just a big pain." Dawn explained.  
  
"I have just had enough of Gotham...I just wanna go home and forget that any of this ever happened, and move on with my life." Julie said.  
  
"Don't say that....!" Terry snapped at her, knowing that it wasn't his friends that he knew. "We can't forget the long, hard battles we faced in the past, even if we wanted to...because we couldn't...All three of us have worked so hard together to keep Gotham the way it is....Dawn and Julie would keep our promise and they wouldn't act this way...that's why...this can't be true!"  
  
"I see..." Midnight said as the room shattered back to show the darkness. Terry knew now what was going on and nothing could surprise him and throw him off guard. "You really believe in the two....what about this?" Midnight used her magic and then all of a sudden, Terry gasped *and you thought he couldn't be surprised*.  
  
"D......Dad....." He managed to say.  
  
"This is your father..right...? You do love him, right?" Midnight asked. " It's different from the kind of love you have given Dawn ...but it's definitely love...Hey, Mr. Mcignnis ....how do you feel about Terry?"  
  
"Terry was the one who left me to die just to go be with a bunch of friends....." Warren replied. Terry gasped in fear.  
  
"Mr. McGinnis....do you love your son, Terry? For how he treated you?" Midnight asked. Warren stood there and just as he was about to open his mouth, Terry plugged his ears and shut his eyes tightly so he couldn't hear it. The floor under him cracked and he fell right through into a bottomless pit of pitch black, where the fall was endless. Midnight laughed her usual evil laughs.  
  
"You're so cute, Terry! You're just too adorable for me!" She chuckled. That's when everything had gone black for him.   
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
"It's taking way too long," Julie said. "I'm getting really worried."  
  
"We have to be patient." Bruce told her. "Give Max a little more time."  
  
"If there were some way I could help...." Julie said. "I'm going to go out and patrol the city for a while. Let me know as soon as possible if anything happens."  
  
"I'll keep you updated." Bruce said. Julie went to go put on her costume and she got on her bike, driving back into the shadows of Gotham that were once normal.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
Please stay safe, Terry, Celes thought to herself. And you too, Max. I just hope I can hold everything together until Terry comes back to help along with Dawn.....Celes suddenly saw something at the corner of her eye. She turned around to see that there was a big fortress-like plane that was tailing her. It was too enormous to even be tailing her*very inconspicuous if you get my drift*. The fortress-plane looked like it was going to land, diving right at Celes and she sharply moved over so that she woulnd't get hit.  
  
"Are you crazy?!" She shouted at them. It turned around again and came right back, hovering over her. Bright lights turned on and made her put her hand over her eyes. "Argh! What is going on?!" The door of the fortress opened up to reveal two figures.   
  
"Greetings, Celes. We have come for you." One said.  
  
"Excuse me, but...who the hell are you??" Celes asked.  
  
"I am Tatra, One of Zio's first class soldiers." Tatra replied.  
  
"And I'm Tarta, another first class soldier." Tarta added.  
  
"We have orders from Zio to bring you back with us as our prisoner."  
  
"Well, Tarty and retard, or whatever you're called, you're full of crap because you can't make me come with you!" Celes snapped.  
  
"You have to come with us! Otherwise we'll just go after your partner and the old man as well..."  
  
"And whoever stands in her way."  
  
"No way! I won't let you get to them!" Celes shouted at them.  
  
"Well now, it would appear we've touched a sensitive spot...." Tatra grinned evily.  
  
"Shuddup...I don't have time to mess around with you morons....!" Celes said and just as she was about to start up her motorcycle again, Tarta used her magic and began to make Celes begin to levitate in the air. Surprised by this, She moved constantly, unable to break free as she was brought to the top of the fortress-plane. The two girls then used their powers again and met Celes at the top, where she couldn't move.  
  
"I guess I'm in no position to bargain...." She said. They used their powers and pushed her into a wing hard. "Hey, what kind of a punch you call that?"  
  
"Your pathetic efforts are futile against our powers...!" Tatra said. Celes' eyes grew with anger. "Don't worry, we'll won't hurt you...much...as long as you come to us and make you our slave...!"  
  
"No WAY!" Celes snapped and ran at them, jumping with a side-kick ready, but they had a barrier around them and she flew back several feet. Celes hit the plane hard, but then, with the speed of the plane, she lost her balance and flew backwards off it. Celes barely managed to hold on to whatever she could find.  
  
"Celes, you will follow our command, there is no point in resisting." Tarta continued. Celes finally got a good grip on the plane and flipped herself back onto it. "On a cold day in hell!" She snapped.  
  
"You foolish girl..." Tatra laughed. Celes began to charge up her final attack and blew it right at them. It almost broke their barrier, but then it just reflected back just as hard at Celes. She was slammed into the wall with high degrees of her ice attack, making her pass out.  
  
"You disappoint me, Celes...." Tatra said. "Lord Zio will be sure proud of our capture." 


	6. Escape of the Shadows

Chapter 6: Escape of the Shadows  
  
Author's note: Okay....so this isn't as long as the other chapters have been......Give me a break! Not all chapters have to be the same. But at least I updated........It's better than nothing. But I promise that I will make the next chapter a lot better. I just thought that this chapter was the chapter to have Julie's moment to shine....She deserves it! That might be the most shine she'll get tho....Sorry Julie! Don't kill me! *ducks to see that a plate will be thrown at her*  
  
  
"HEEY! Someone get me out of here!" Julie shouted as she was in a cage, being guarded by a pair of guards. "Why don't you morons get me out of here?? Stop acting like statues and answer me already!!" Suddenly she heard a laugh from behind her and she turned to find that it was Tatra with her against her hips.  
  
"Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha! I've finally caught you! One of the protectors of Gotham City!" She said. "I am Tatra, one of Zio's loyal first class soldiers...."  
  
"And I'm her sister Tarta." Her sister said, butting in.  
  
"Hey, prisoner...tell us your name!" Tatra demanded. Julie crossed her arms and turned away.  
  
"I don't like you calling me prisoner so i'm not going to tell you anything." She said.  
  
"Ooo! What'd you say?" Tatra said as she grabbed the bars of the cage.  
  
"You heard me!" Julie snapped back, also taking hold of the bars.  
  
"You're pretty arrogant for a prisoner!"  
  
"What'd you think I'd do? Roll over and beg?!"  
  
"Isn't it proper to tell someone your name after they introduce themselves??"  
  
"When did I even ask for your name, u fool?!"  
  
"OOO! That don't make no sense, you jackass!!!"  
  
"Tatra...Please, watch your accent...." Tarta reminded her. She covered her mouth in forgetfulness, not even thinking about it.  
  
"Wait a second...." Julie began to think aloud. "She speaks with a southern accent...I've never heard of a evil villain w/ a southern accent....How lame is that..." A sweatdrop then crept up to her head.   
  
"OOO! Shut-up, shut-up, SHUT-UUUUUUUP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Tatra screamed. She got out her sword out and pointed it towards her. "I have had enough of you arrogance. Come over here so we can fight!"   
  
"Umm, hello?? Can't you see that it's a little hard for me since I'm in a cage??" Julie asked. Tatra used her magic and it had vanished before her. "And what about my weapons?? You took those away too!"   
  
"You sure are needy for a hero...we just wanted you to not have any weapons so you couldn't escape...." Tatra said as she tossed Julie her ice sword. She looked at it and then slashed it downwards and then pointed it towards Tatra.   
  
"You can call me Julie...My name is Julie Summers..."   
  
"All right then....Let's see what you got, you whelp." Tatra said as she lunged her sword at her in a vicious manner. Julie moved out of the way and blocked it quickly as she moved down the steps that were close by her. Their skills were almost equally matched, and they continued to fight, each dodging the attacks that are dished out at them.   
  
"You're not bad...." Tatra said as she held up her sword against Julie's.   
  
"....Well, neither are you..." Julie smiled as she pushed her off from the sword and continued down the steps and eventually got to the ground floor. Tatra kept pushing Julie backwards as she continued to block constantly. Julie finally had to stop when she felt something hard behind her. She turned around to find a statue of Zio. Tatra then came at her from above to shove the sword down on her. Julie quickly turned around to block it but instead the swords clinging at the hit, Tatra's sword sliced Zio's head off *statue form*.....Tatra looked at it in surprise and screamed in horror*scary horror* Julie looked at her confused.   
  
"Huh...?" She asked. "What is it?" She looked above her to notice that the statue was missing the head of it. "Oh, wow....if you look at it....it kind of looks like something...an improvement."  
  
"HOW DARE YOU DESTROY THAT STATUE!!!!!!!!!!" Tatra shouted at her.  
  
"WHY AM I THE ONE TO BE BLAMED FOR IT WHEN YOU'RE THE ONE WHO SLICED IT?????" Julie snapped back at her.  
  
"I am not going to let you get away for that!" Tatra said as she began lunging her sword at Julie as she fastly reacted to the attacks and blocked them. Julie then moved in fast and shot the sword out of her hand to be far from Tatra's reach. She fell to the ground on her back, and then Julie used her sword to hold her down, pointing it on her neck.  
  
"Looks like this match is over...." Julie said. Just then, soldiers began to come out from all corners of the room. Julie slowly turned her head to see that she was outnumbered. Julie dropped her sword to let Tatra get up.  
  
"I think you lost...." Tatra said. "You can't possibly defeat all of these guards..." Julie lowered her head in anger, but then she used a powerful ice spell to freeze all the guards up. Tatra looked around in fear to see that none of the guards were able to help her.   
  
"What were you just saying a minute ago, Tatra?" Julie began as she flared up another ice attack for her. Just then, she felt a sharp jolt in her back that hurt so much that she had to drop to her knees. She slowly tried to move her head to see that it was Tarta smiling evily with a lightning staff.  
  
"Did you forget about me?" She grinned evily. Tarta began to thrust her staff at her again to give her another shock, but then Julie sharply rolled out of the way in order to get up and use her ice attacks. Just as she was about to, a pair of hands held pulled her back down by Tatra. Julie, with her massive flexibility, brought her leg straight up to kick Tatra in the face from behind. Once she let go, Julie moved away from both of them  
  
"Slaying ice beam!!" Julie shouted as ice shot out from her hand and became like a whip and was cracked upon both sisters. They flew back into the walls, breaking them in.  
  
"Listen, you morons....!" Julie huffed. "I'm not gonna waste my time on you freaks so you could get a good fight outta me. I have actual things to do. So don't get in my way anymore." Julie said as she blew a hole into the wall and jumped out. Tatra ran over to the wall and watched as she used her beeper to have her motorcycle come to her aid. She landed right on top of it and drove off.  
  
"Blast that girl! She's gonna pay!" Tatra said as her hand was clenched. "Tarta...Let's summon the Jin."  
  
"All right then...let's do it." Tarta said as they began together, saying, "Guardian spirits...we summon thee.....!" Bursts of smoke flew out everywhere and developed bodies that looked like Genies. They flew out of the plane and chased after the far away Julie.   
  
"God, could that have been more pointless...." Julie said as she shook her head. "It was sucha bad idea to go patroling..........How could things get any worse?" Just then, a shot of lightning almost hit her motorcyle. She swerved away, almost losing control. Once Julie had regained her balance again, she turned around to see that the two Genies were after her. She gasped in surprise, feeling disgusted.  
  
"AAahhh! What are they???" Julie asked. "My god, they're disgusting!! I just can't stand macho-types!" She aimed her hand at them to let a huge amount of ice shoot out and blast them, but missed. Instead, the Genies sucked it up like it were nothing of water. Julie jerked at it, scared at the fact that they did something so disgusting.  
  
"Gak! How gross!" She freaked. She she sharply curved the motorcycle and stopped to confront them and performed some more ice attacks only to have them miss. She took out her sword and charged at them. "Would you just leave me alone and die already??" Julie just swung her sword carelessly because she kept getting freaked out by their appearance. She kept attacking them without thinking. She didn't care because she just wanted them gone. She performed another ice attack but it only missed. A sweatdrop crept onto her head.  
  
"Heheh....Well....anythings' better than sucking it up....." Julie said as she looked at them. ONCE again, she continued her attack, and then Julie managed to slice open apart of their stomach. It let out a girlie ouch *Tatra*. Julie was confused.  
  
"What th-What the heck was that tiny little voice?" She asked. "AAAaaarrrggggh! Now I've seen everything! SAAFIIRE..... ICE WIND!!!!!" The raging winds caught up with the Genies and caught them inside. Unable to get free, they struggled profusely.  
  
"That's it! I've had it with these freaks!" Julie said. "I'm gonna finish this once and for all! AQUA-BLAST!" The attack had completely blew away the Genies and it was so powerful, that the Genies had disintigrated, as did Tatra and Tarta, since they were apart of them. Julie let out a sigh in relief.  
  
"Thank God that's over.....I was about to freak out completely....." She said. Just then she had an image of terry falling in a bottomless pit calling her name. She stopped in her tracks and gasped in surprise. "Terry!" Terry.......did something happen to you? Julie thought to herself. What possibly could have happened while I was gone? Why can't I shake this bad feeling I have for you? And with that, she drove her motocycle at a very fast pace back to Wayne Manor, not once slowing down for a second. 


	7. Return

Chapter 7 Return  
  
Author's note: Yeah, yeah...I know...It's been a long time since I've really done anything with this fic....I know you people are just DYING to find out what's gonna happen next....well you should be at least itching to know! I know that it has been a while since I've been working on any kind of fic, so if this seems kinda sloppy or chopped up, I'm REALLY sorry! Gomen-sai!   
  
  
Terry was floating in the bottomless abyss, motionless. It was dark, and there wasn't a thing around him. He was very depressed, feeling like everything that has happened in his life, was all his fault. Midnight's power of persuasion had finally got to him and it worked moreso than was to be expected. I'm nothing but trouble........Terry thought to himself repeatedly. Nothing but trouble..........All my life I've always felt like a big screw-up....Like I wasn't ever wanted. Never able to do anything right....I wasn't any good at being a brother or a son.....I was never able to keep any promises to anyone. I'm a lousy friend and boyfriend....Preserving my life is just making others suffer.......Why do I bother on living......? I'm.......I'm.....................  
  
Just then, Midnight had appeared before Terry. He wasn't paying attention to any of his surroundings, just thinking of all his flaws. She gave him a sweet smile, and floated over to him to get really close. Midnight stroked his hair and touched his face.  
  
"Oh....My sweet little Ter...." She said to him. "You thought you were strong enough to see that your friends couldn't be who they were....but when you saw your father....it just broke you apart........" Midnight moved away from him and then created Warren's image yet again. She turned to him and she began her evil laugh, disappearing right before him. Terry remained the same and a tear rolled down his cheek "Oh Dad........Dawn.............."  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
"This is really bad...." Max said as she looked up at Terry in the tube.   
  
"What's wrong?" Bruce asked.  
  
"Terry's falling in further ever than before. Something in there is really doing a good job on him...It seems practically impossible to get him out of his trance."  
  
"Then let's get him out of there now...Stop the whole process now." Bruce snapped.  
  
"I would if I could Bruce. If we do that now, we might kill him. His brain would be damaged and all we would have of him is his body, and he'd never be among us mentally...."  
  
"..........Then keep trying."  
  
"You actually think I'm going to stop? I'm not going to stop until he's out of there safely." Max said as she turned back to the buttons. Please Ter....don't give up on us so easily...I know you have a stronger will than this...You have all of us right here supporting you...!  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
Terry eyes slowly opened to see that he was he was staring up at a dark sky. His eyes opened wider to get a better view. Where am I now? He thought to himself. He slowly got himself up, feeling weaker than ever. Once again, Midnight appeared and walked over to him. She looked down upon him and smiled. Terry looked at her in surprise. Midnight then kneeled by him and gave him a hug.  
  
"Terry," She began. "I know it's hard letting go of Dawn...but...what's done is done. You can't change the past...."  
  
"I.....came here...to change it....and I can........." Terry said weakly.  
  
"Why do you bother changing the impossible?"  
  
"It's not impossible.......NOTHING is...." Terry was now struggling to sit up. The mental blows were just too much for him to handle, and it was hurting him on the outside as well as the inside.  
  
"Is that so?" Midnight said as she leaned over to him, giving him an innocent look. Terry looked at her in silence. "Then I guess this isn't either..." She leaned in and started kissing him passionately on the lips. His mind suddenly started to show flashbacks.....to remind him what he was doing..  
FLASH!   
  
"So why did you hide them from us...? From me...?" Danw asked. The scene was being repeated once more in his mind.  
  
"I was embarrassed...I couldn't show them to anybody....too ashamed to say anything to anyone about them....I would've been considered a freak....the thought of rejection.... I should have never brought them out into the opening...." He said as he turned away. Dawn walked up to him.  
  
"I think there's nothing wrong with them...actually I think they're beautiful...." Dawn blushed. Terry then looked up at her in surprise.  
  
"....."   
  
"You have nothing to be ashamed of, Ter." Dawn said. "If it weren't for them, I would be laying on a pile of sharp rocks." She then gave him a hug, to soothe him of his depression. His face began to blush a little, having Dawn that close to him. "I promise I'll keep this a secret, if you want me to...."  
  
"Thanks Dawn..." Terry said.  
FLASH!  
  
"We've decided, after a talk last night, we thought it was best that Dawn should leave town and start a normal life in another area. This has been too hard on Dawn and the visions won't be as bad if we moved her somewhere else."   
  
"What? No, you can't...If you move Dawn somewhere, Vega will be sure to come after her. She's better off being here. I'll protect her, no matter what. Don't you trust me?"  
  
"Terry...." Dawn said in her soft tone.  
  
"Terry, it's not that you can't do it, but it's just that this seems like the best solution."  
  
"Will she ever come back?"   
  
"Probably."  
  
"I don't like 'probably'. I want to be reassured that Dawn will come back."  
  
"Terry, then thing is, I will be able to start my life over in a place that I might be happy in...don't you want me to be happy?" Dawn asked. Terry looked at her in silence."I do want you to be happy but....Nevermind. You go do what you want. I'll be happy with whatever you decide."  
  
"Really?" Dawn asked.  
  
"Yeah." Terry replied. She wrapped her arms around him and said, "Thanks, Ter...Thanks for understanding." He hugged her back, but he felt really awful. Dawn was leaving and she might ever come back, and Terry couldn't bare that.  
  
FLASH!  
  
"You gotta remember to hold onto your one, true wish, Terry." Julie reminded him. "With your will, everything is determined from there, so keep it in the best state that you can get it in....We all are counting on you to bring back Dawn......It's all up to you..."  
  
FLASH!  
  
My.....wish.....Terry thought. That's right...that's why I came here in the first place....to bring back Dawn...I don't care what the cost is, just let me bring that wish back!  
  
"No......" Terry managed to say to Midnight. She let go of him and gave him a confused look.  
  
"'No', what Ter?" She asked.  
  
"I finally really realized why I'm here....! I came here to resurrect Dawn. You can't prevent me from doing that no matter how much you try to mix me up...I know the difference between reality and false imagery...! Dawn is still and always will be important to me....You're just trying to move into her spot. You may look and act like her, but you don't have her heart...she knows me much better than you!" Midnight looked at him in surprise and then pushed away from him.  
  
"....I always thought that I could have been a better lover than Dawn could have.....but since you love her still more than anything...you probably think I'm also a false image..." She said as she lowered her head. "I've always wanted a guy that would love me for who I was, and that I could love them back.....to share the same kind of times together.....so, even if she is dead, I'm still not in your reality.......let's see if you find this to be a false image!!!" Midnight said as she threw a fire attack at Terry and he quickly moved out of the way. She pulled out her blade and held it in her fighting stance, ready to attack at any time.  
  
"Midnight! Stop! There's no reason for you to fight me!" Terry said.  
  
"Oh, yes there is.....you made me think that I could love a mortal such as yourself...." Midnight began. "but no matter what form you men come in, you're all decietful and have a one-track mind if you had someone and lost them. That's what makes you weak, Terry! You're still holding onto Dawn when she's already dead!" She threw her sword at Terry and it managed to cut into his arm. He let out a yell in pain as he held it close to him. Midnight got back into her stance, ready to see what move Terry would make if he moved; feeling ready for anything to do to him for all the pain he had caused her.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
"What's going on with Terry?" Julie began as she walked into the batcave. "I thought I heard Terry's voice through my mind.....He's in trouble, isn't he?" Max turned to her with silence, and then turned back to the still Terry.  
  
".....Terry has been going through to the shadows, and we're doing everything we can to bring him out of that state of mind. But whatevers' in there is certainly doing a good job on him." She explained.  
  
"Well, get him out of there now!" Julie snapped.  
  
"You think if I could, I woulda done it already??" Max asked. "Terry's too far under to be called back....but I feel every second that we don't do something, we might lose him even farther than he already is in....."  
  
"Then let me go in to try!"   
  
"We can't let you do that." Bruce said. "Terrys' already in there...we don't want you sucked in as well if that thing in there gets you too. There's nothing you can do at this point except pray that at least Terry comes back alive out of this."  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
Terry quickly dodged another attack that Midnight had dished out to him. He was getting tired easily from all the running around he was doing.  
  
"Hold still! I want to vanquish you once and for all like I was told to....!" She snarled at him.   
  
"Midnight, listen to me....!" Terry said. "You can't think I can just replace you with Dawn after her death......! There's no way you could! If you thought there was any type of chemistry between us, you better think again. I know you tried to hurt Dawn, and if you're one of those kind of people, I could never even be your friend....!" Midnight looked at him in surprise.  
  
"You hate.....me....?" She asked as her eyes began to water up. Terry backed away.  
  
"Um...I, uh...." He hesitated.  
  
"I knew it....you hate me....!" Midnight's eyes clenched up in anger, making the rage even stronger than before. Her magic became stronger and she created a beam of light that surrounded her. Terry stepped back once more. The beam of light then came crashing back down to the ground. Terry jumped away from and tried to dodge, but it hit him in the back. He flew forwards, hitting the ground shoulder-first. He slowly rose to his feet, barely able to stand up.  
  
"You..........MADE me think that I could be loved..................that you and I could have been together........!" Midnight continued to attack in her vicious manner once more. She threw at Terry a massive fire attack that blew him away even farther. This time, instead of getting up, he remained on the ground....  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
"Terry!" Max shouted. There was now no sign of any activity inside Terry's body. His heart had finally stopped. Max nervously fiddled with the controls.   
  
"What's going on??" Julie said as she looked at the monitor. "There's.....no sign of life on this scale! Is this thing still hooked up?!"   
  
"Yes, it still is!" Max said as she continued to franitically push buttons. "Terry has no pulse...."  
  
"What...??? Then bring it back!" Julie said with tears forming.  
  
"Don't you think I'm trying right now?" Max said. Bruce then came up from behind her and began to help her out.  
  
"We're not going to lose another life because of this monster. Terry has to come back to us...!" Bruce said as he punched in keys  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
"Get up Terry!"   
  
  
"................................................................................." Terry felt like he couldn't move at all. His body felt worn-out and that he was at his last ounce of energy to even think.  
  
  
"You've got to get up!" The voice continued.  
  
"...What the-? Who's there?" Terry asked.   
  
"The whole place is burning, Ter! You've got to get us out of here! I know you can do it Ter....Just believe in yourself!"  
  
"D......Dawn?" He asked  
  
"Terry!! Come on!!! LISTEN!!!! You're the only one who can do this!"   
  
"I........I..........can't....move........I'm so....tired.........."  
  
"You can do it Ter! I have faith in you! You have to fight back and not back down on it! When was there ever a time where you backed down?"  
  
"Never..........."  
  
"So then why start now?"  
  
"I'm not starting to back down........I'm just really.............tired.......and weak..........."  
  
"But you have to get us out of here, otherwise we're both gonna fry!" Terry's eyes then opened up wider to see that he was in a whole city that was burning to death. I........remember this place....This is the place where I was when Dawn came to get me. She was trying to hard to have me get up and I finally did........so I could save the both of us from dying.....What are these images trying to tell me? Why do they keep showing things that have already happened to me?  
  
"Terry, you've got to fly...!" Dawn continued.  
  
"Fly....?" He asked, actually beginning to think that he was getting it.   
  
"Terry, you MUST fly if you want to get out of this alive and in one piece!" Dawn said. That's.....that's it....I have to fly.....I have to get up and keep trying.....everyone is...counting on me...Dawn....needs me....I have to get up and fight....!  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
"Hey....." Max said as she looked at her monitor. "I'm picking up pulse activity again....Terry's coming back..!"  
  
"That means he's fighting it...! Whatevers' trying to get to him he's finally fighting back..." Julie said, feeling a bit more relieved, but still was worried for his safety, hoping that he will come back.  
  
"That means we have to stay with him until the end...He's not alone in this....We have to let him know that." Bruce added. Max and Julie both nodded in agreement.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
"Get up, you bastard!" Midnight shouted at him. "Get up so I can kick the crap outta you some more for what you've done to me!" Terry remained on the ground, feeling it rather hard to move. She got so frustrated with him that she kicked him hard in the stomach. He let out a grunt in pain and held his stomach tightly.   
  
"Don't think I can let you get away for breaking my heart!" She said.  
  
"....And don't think I won't make you pay for trying to replace the only person I loved....I know you work for the man who killed her....it's all too simple....So if that means you work with him, you're going to have to be my enemy as well....!" Terry said and knocked her over by using his legs. She fell straight on her back, but then jumped back up to her feet. They both began to fight vigorously, one punch was thrown after the next. Midnight was able to get in a few that knocked Terry off balance, but he came back with the same amount of power and more. She side-kicked him into the stomach while he simultaneously grabbed her foot and threw her across the area. Midnight then pulled out her whip and snapped it right at him. It cracked right upon his back, feeling like it was a thousand needles that were being forced into his back. Terry fell onto one knee, panting in exertion. Midnight jumped in the air and once more threw her weapon at him. The whip came back at him, with a faster snap than ever. This time, Terry let it grab hold of his arm to wrap around, and he pulled her down to the ground. Midnight ended up face-first into the ground.  
  
"I....don't want to fight you, Midnight...." Terry panted. "but if you're going to try to stand in my way in resurrecting Dawn....I don't have any choice..."  
  
"You musn't.....revive her! She is the main problem in this world and thanks to my father, she was eliminated completely. I am ten times stronger than she ever was! I should have been the chosen successor-!" Midnight yelled. Chosen successor? Terry thought. Of what? Midnight attacked once more and threw a kick over his head. Terry ducked out of the way and took her by the hand and threw her over his shoulder.  
  
"What are you talking about??" He asked. "What are you guys planning to do??" Midnight grinned evily.  
  
"That's only for us only to know....You're kind doesn't stand a chance against us...." She replied. "Your team can't take on our WHOLE army....and as of now, you only have two people."  
  
"A, army??" Terry asked. Midnight then user her legs to attach them against his neck and threw him onto his back.  
  
"That's right...! A new generation of a powerful soldiers all coming from your city!"  
  
"What-?!" Terry asked, confused over what she just said, but then it finally clicked. "The kids.....You're using them, aren't you??"  
  
"Correct again! We're using their souls and putting them into bodies where they can prove more usefullness." Midnight grinned once more. Matt........Terry thought to himself. She has Matt's soul....!  
  
"Give them back!!" He said as he tackled her to the ground. Midnight kicked Terry off of her and got back onto her feet, into a fighting stance. She just won't stay down.....Terry pondered. It's like she can never get tired....this isn't going to be easy. Just then, he felt a surge of energy flow into his body. This...sensation....what is it? Is it....Dawn? Dawn's with me? Terry began to glow a bright white color that made Midnight want to turn away from it. Once she turned back, she was surprised to see that Terry's eyes were now white. He pointed his hands towards Midnight and let out a large beam of earth, fire, ice, light, and shadow all in the same attack and it hit her directly hit her head on. The attack was so powerful that she had disappeared from the whole "dream", back into her real body. She flew backwards into a solid wall, it was so powerful. Midnight slowly got up and held onto her.  
  
"Curse that boy....! How dare he try to do this to me after he broke my heart......!" Midnight said. "If he did revive Dawn.....I will make sure she pays dearly!!"   
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
"The darkness has finally been lifted over Ter!" Julie said as she saw that shadows demolishing. Soon everything was gone, and they waited there in silence. Terry's eyes were finally opening slowly but surely. The others just looked at him in relief.  
  
"Am....I.....still alive?" He asked.  
  
"Yes...." Bruce replied. "You gave us quite a scare when you went in there."  
  
"I'm sorry about that..." Terry said, sitting up, still having Dawn's hand in his.   
  
"You scared the crap outta us, McGinnis!" Julie shouted at him. "I can't believe you did something so stupid!"  
  
"I said I was sor-" Terry began, but suddenly, he felt a twitch. It wasn't from him....it was from Dawn's hand. He looked over to see that she was still unmoving, until her eyes opened. The group looked at her in shock.  
  
"D, Dawn....." Terry said. She sat up on the bench and looked at everyone in silence.   
  
"Are you okay, Dawn?" Julie asked. "You look like you're completely out of it." Dawn was still silent.  
  
"Hey, Dawn?" Max said as she waved her hand in front of her face. She looked at her and looked confused.  
  
"..........Is Dawn my name?" She asked. Everyone looked at her, in even more shock than they were before.  
  
"She....She doesn't even know who she is...." Terry said. 


	8. The Return of Memories

Chapter 8: The Return of Memories  
  
Gomen-sai! Gomen-sai! I never realized I would get this delayed because of finals...Arg! Curse those damn finals! They should never even have them! I'm really sorry everyone for those who are wanting to know what happens! It's just been so hectic with everything that has been happening in the past couple weeks. And when I say I was going to work on something, I kept putting it off. Fortunately, my very good friend, NeoBatwoman, helped me write some of this chapter. It was really late at night while i was studying and I asked her if she could work on it.Thank god she was more than willing to do so^.^ Thanks Neo! Hope u all like it!  
  
"Is it really possible that she lost her memory?" Max asked.   
  
"It seems that way, unfortunately...." Bruce replied as he sat down. "Where ever she has been all this time, must have seemed like an eternity for her to make her forget about who she even is."   
  
"What do you mean 'where ever she has been'?" Julie asked. "She's been dead all this time...."   
  
"He's saying that Dawn could have been through some kind of dimension...." Terry explained.   
  
"Oh, you mean heaven and hell?" Julie replied.   
  
"Yes." Bruce added.   
  
"So how do we get her to start to remember again?" Terry asked.   
  
"Good question....." Bruce said as he went into thought.   
  
"There are no spells that can cure this kind of ailness in her book...." Julie began. "So we're going to have to do it the old-fashion way..."   
  
"Which is what?" Max asked.   
  
"We need to bring it back by trying to use things that are familiar to her. It's practically the same as amnesia..." She said.   
  
"But the difference between both of those is that one is possibly curable over time, and the other one we're not too sure about." Max replied.   
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
"Damn that girl........" Midnight said as she clenched her hand. "I almost had Terry, but she kept filling his thoughts more and more. WHY does he care for her so much??" She then punched a wall that was nearest to her, nearly breaking it. The guards that were around her backed away, frightened that she would take more of her anger out on them.  
  
"Not only did they successfully revived her, but I also failed father....what is he going to do now that I screwed up?" Midnight thought out loud.   
  
"Nothing...." A voice said. Midnight turned around to find that Zio was there.   
  
"Father!" Midnight said. "I am extremely sorry for my failure!"   
  
"Don't be." Zio said. "I'm actually glad you didn't destroy the boy that was going to revive Dawn."  
  
"Why's that?" Midnight asked.  
  
"Because I conjured up an idea that I want to take into action as soon as possible. And I'm sure you can do this because it's not that hard."  
  
"And what is it?"  
  
"I want you to bring back Dawn. I know that she has no memory of her past, so that could be used to our advantage to make her come on our side."  
  
"Why would we want a weakling like that?" Midnight snapped.  
  
"Midnight, you underestimate Dawn. She is much more powerful than you think. When you faced her, it seems that she was withholding her full potential. I know you are jealous of Dawn." Zio explained.  
  
"I'm not jealous of her." Midnight replied. Suddenly, she could feel something grabbing onto her neck. Midnight was surprised to see that it was Zio.  
  
"You are. Don't lie to me." Zio said in a normal tone. "I know that you wanted the power that Dawn had, but you never recieved it from your mother. But that shouldn't keep you down. You're still a strong warrior......Bring me Dawn, and then, that's when everything will follow." He then let go of her, to let her fall to the ground.  
  
"But once we have Dawn, what next?" Midnight asked.  
  
"The boy will come and then my plan will go into action." Zio grinned evilly and the walked off. What does he want to do with Dawn and Terry? Midnight asked herself.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
Sounds..no, talking. There was definiatly some voices nearby. But where? Dawn stirred, nothing made sense. Especially why she was..laying down? It's soft... She let her fingers touch the material beneath her fingers. It's a bed....but where am I? Slowly, the ability to open her eyes came back to her. And she immedatly wished she hadn't. Strong beams of light poured through, blinding her, making her head throbb and her bones ache.   
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
"It's our best bet...." Julie said.   
  
"Yeah...I'm open to anything at this point if it gets Dawn back to her old self." Terry added.   
  
"Umm...Excuse me..." Dawn began. Everyone turned towards her. "But what are you all talking about? Who is Dawn?"   
  
"You're Dawn...." Bruce began. "Do you remember anything about yourself? Anything that happened to you in the past?"   
  
"I......I don't remember anything that has happened to me....I wish I knew who you guys think I am......" Dawn said, placing a hand to her temple. She was developing a headache that grew everytime she began to try and remember. Shrugging her shoulders, she let the breath of air she had been holding in.   
  
"You're Dawn! The one and only!" Terry said, standing almost abruptly from his seat on a nearby table. " There's no way that anyone else could be you because I can tell....." Terry said as he walked over to her. "I know you're Dawn.....I can see it in your eyes." Dawn's eyes became wide when Terry approached her. She studied him as he came forward, This boy..no..this man wasn't too hard on the eyes. Jeans, a tight-fitted black coton shirt, brown and slightly worn brown boots. She could feel his breath on her flushed skin. ' Why does this seem so familar? Where do I know him from?...From where?" Terry placed a caring hand on Dawn shoulder, and she slightly jumped from the sudden contact.   
  
"You remember, don't you? All the good times we have had, we will have together?" Terry said, moving his hand down her arm to take her hand in his. "Try and remember, Dawn........It was you. It was you that saved me." Saved him? How could I do that when I don't even know him? Dawn thought to herself.   
  
"Look at this for a second...." Terry said. He stepped away from her and took off his shirt. He closed his eyes and all of a sudden, wings came out of his back. Dawn looked at them in shock.  
  
"Y-you have...wings...!" She exclaimed.  
  
"Yes....I'm a Dertorian. You found out the day you had fallen off the cliff that was outside of this manor because of the people that attacked you. I never had shown my wings to anyone before, and since it was a matter between life and death, I had no other choice to fly down to save you. The reason why I did it was because I wanted to save you, since I cared so much for you.....it was before we ever found out that we liked each other. We were just watching each other's backs, I guess."  
  
"I'm sorry....I wish I...could remember these things..." Dawn said as she lowered her head. I wished they'd just leave me alone, she thought to herself. I can't think straight with all these things coming at me...it's too overwhelming...Her head then shot back with extreme pain. She crunched up together, letting out shots of agony.   
  
"Dawn?!" Terry asked.   
  
"Terry, she needs to lie down...why don't you bring her upstairs to her room?" Bruce asked.   
  
"All right." Terry said. He picked her up in his arms.   
  
"What are you doing? Put me down!" She said.   
  
"Dawn, please don't struggle...." Terry said. "Just let me take you to your bedroom...okay?" Terry asked. Dawn looked at his deep, concerned face and she then stopped moving. He gave her his sweet smile and walked out of the batcave and upstairs into her room. He set her on her bed and stepped back a slight to give her some room. She looked around, noticing the items that were around her seemed familiar.  
  
"...I know you're going through a lot and I want you to know that I am there for you every step of the way." Terry began as he looked down. Dawn's attention was then brought over to his face. "I know you don't know who you are just yet, and until you find yourself, there is nothing I can do about it....and I feel helpless..."  
  
"But it isn't your fault I'm like this." She said.  
  
"Yes it is..." Terry said as he lowered his head even further. Dawn's eyes widened. "I was at a weak state of being...I couldn't do a thing to help anyone...I was so week, I couldn't even take on a simple robber. You and Julie were the only ones left to help out Gotham while Bruce worked on the antidote to help me out. By the time he gave it to me, I was ready, and I went to go help you both since you both were in a lot of trouble...I tried to come as soon as I could, but by the time I had reached you both, it was too late. Zio had drained all of your life energy out of you, killing off whatever was left in you....Dawn...I'm sorry. I should've been there for you. I promised you that I could protect you, and look what happened....It just proves that I'm not good enough for you." Terry then sat down on her bed and ran his hand through his hair. Dawn looked at him, able to understand the story, but she was still confused. She walked over to him, and put her hand on his shoulder.  
  
"I'm sorry to hear that happen...if that was me...all in due time will tell. But if it makes you feel any better, I don't think that you're weak at all. It wasn't your fault that you were like that in the first place, was it?"  
  
"Well...no..."   
  
"Then, there you go." Dawn said. "This Dawn you talk of....She probably would think right now that you did all you could in your power to stop that man that killed her." Terry looked at her and then looked down to the ground.   
  
"I know you're Dawn....I can tell just by your personality. You look like her, act like her, and even talk like her...You both have the same kindness that I always seem to notice over anyone....." Terry said. He then stood up and looked in her eyes.  
  
"Dawn...If you don't remember anything now...can I at least try one more thing to make you remember?"  
  
"I...guess so." Dawn said. He took her by then hand and led her outside to the balcony, where the night sky was shown as it rained. He leaned her against it, and he let his wings come back out. She looked around to find that this all seemed too familiar to her.  
  
"This is where you and I both first kissed...." Terry began. Dawn looked over at him.  
  
"First kissed?" She repeated.  
  
"It was raining...and you were crying because of what Josh had turned out to be...your biggest enemy...I came out here to comfort you and all of a sudden, we told each other our true feelings about each other and before either one of us knew it, we were kissing...holding each other tightly...like this..." He leaned over towards her and began to brush his lips against hers, continuing to kiss her. She was surprised, and something triggered in her mind. This...this kiss....She thought. I have felt this kind of kiss....it's so sweet and warm...I think it's coming back to me.....She began to kiss back, seeing that she didn't want to be completely holding back. They both let go of each other after being lip-locked, and looked at each other, all soaked.  
  
"And that is what happened...." Terry said. Dawn looked at him with a sad face, wanting to remember everything, but she just felt like crying in his arms, knowing that she felt something and that she couldn't get it to come to her. Terry held her tightly, not wanting to let go. "It's okay...you can let it all out...."  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
"Where is Dawn?" Bruce asked Terry as he walked down the steps. "She's sleeping." Terry replied as he went over to him.   
  
"Did anything new happen?" Bruce continued.  
  
"Boing....." Julie remarked as she turned away, letting everyone exactly know what she meant *And if you don't get that remark, I'm not going to tell ya! Just go back and re-read it to figure it out..just think of it as perverted...*  
  
"Julie!" Terry said. "How could you think such a perverted thing, of all things...!"   
  
"Hey, it's been known to happen....right? Taking advantage of a girl that has no memory and just tell her whatever you make it seem like is right, and there ya go..."  
  
"Pervert." Max said.   
  
"I am not a pervert...I mean, I wouldn't be too surprise if they already have done it in the past."  
  
"Will you shut up and mind your own business...!!!" Terry shouted. "What we do on our own time is just for us...and NO we have not done it...so just keep those perverted remarks to yourself."  
  
"Fine...(I bet you've done it each night to her.)" Julie said, mumbling the rest of the words.  
  
"Julie!" Terry said.  
  
"Sorry."  
  
"So....." Bruce began. "Is everyone ready to face what's going to happen from here on out? And ready to face the fact that Dawn may never be the same as we knew her as, in her 'previous' life?"  
  
"What are you babbling about, Bruce?" Julie asked. "Dawn's going to return back to normal, it's just going to take some time."  
  
"You don't know that." Bruce said. They all looked at him, waiting for what he was about to say next. "I've seen this kind of thing happen before. Sometimes the victim that had already gone into the next life lose their memories while they come back to the living. That means, if Dawn lost her memory on the journey back here, then there's no possible way of getting it back. Chances could be slim that it's just a typical amnesia case."  
  
"They're....slim??" Terry asked, surprised at the information he just heard. Julie then walked over to Bruce and held him but his collar.  
  
"You MORON! Why didn't you say this sooner to us before anything???" Julie asked. Terry and Max went over to her to pull her off of Bruce.   
  
"You think, being a sorceress like yourself, you'd know that kind of problem." Bruce said.  
  
"You realize that I only specialize in ICE?? I don't do any other kind of magic. I just heard things from my grandparents when I was younger about other kinds of spells. So that doesn't mean that I would learn every trick in the book and there consequences. I just happened to know a revival spell for Dawn! So don't start telling me that I was aware of this."  
  
"And since there isn't any spell to help us out with this problem....?" Terry asked.  
  
"Dawn is going to be just as vulnerable as an average human being." Bruce said. "And about now, I would assume that Zio knows about the revival, so Dawn would be considered a weakspot for all of you, and would make this the perfect chance to strike."  
  
"So, what do we do from this point on?" Max asked.  
  
"Julie and Terry: You two will be out patrolling the city. Since now Gotham is full of monsters that roam freely, there will be some trouble that's going to be caused by them. Max, you're going to be keeping an eye on Dawn. I'll try to come up with some more information that might prove useful to us in this mission."  
  
"Sounds like a plan." Max said.  
  
"Why don't I stay with Dawn a little while longer?" Terry asked.  
  
"Oh, NO you don't!" Julie said as she walked over to him. "After the crap I went through the other day, I don't think I could let you take another day off of fighting bad guys. I mean, I could handle them, but it would have been better if you were there in the first place."  
  
"Sorry, Julie." Terry said as he scratched the back of his head.  
  
"Ter, don't worry about Dawn. I'll make sure she stays all right while you're gone." Max smiled.  
  
"Thanks, Max." Terry smiled. He then turned to Julie. "We better get going."   
  
"Right." Julie replied and both of them went down into the batcave to get ready.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
Dawn stared into the mirror for the longest period of time. She felt so lost and confused. With all that she has seen has been overwhelming, but somehow she felt that it was right. But Dawn wasn't sure what to believe at this point. She may be this Dawn that they are talking about, but then again, she just may be a lost soul that was accidentally put into this body. Who...am I? Dawn thought to herself. She sighed and looked around. It's cold in here.........She turned back to the mirror and stared at her reflection. Is this who I really am? She put her hand on the mirror. Just then, the reflection's hand grabbed onto hers. Dawn stepped back in fear, while accidentally pulling the body out of the mirror.  
  
"So here you are." The reflection said. Once the head came out of the mirror, it then revealed that it was Midnight.  
  
"Who are you??" Dawn asked.  
  
"Dawn, how could you not remember me?" Midnight as she pulled the rest of her body out. "It's rather difficult to forget a face like mine...since it looks almost exactly like yours."  
  
"I have no idea who you are." Dawn said.  
  
"That's because you lost your memory." Midnight said. "Those PEOPLE were doing experiments on you and at one point, they had to erase your memory so you couldn't remember your family."  
  
"Family?"  
  
"Yeah. Me and daddy." Midnight smiled. "My dear sister....you and I have been away from each other for so long....ever since we were born."  
  
"What are you talking about? I don't remember you at all."  
  
"That's because we were too young to remember. When our mother gave birth to us, she was going to kill the both of us and destroy the Promised Land. Zio was able to take me away from her, but he wasn't able to get you too. You ended up here on Earth. Sent to these filthy beings in order to have you suffer. And when the time was came, they killed you before we were able to get there in time. With their black magic, they revived you, but with no memory. I'm sure Father will be able to fix it, no problem. All you have to do is take my hand, and we can go see him right away to fix this memory loss." Midnight then stuck out her hand to her. Dawn looked down at her hand and was hesitant.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
"Man, these guys are everywhere...!" Celes said as she just eliminated one monster.  
  
"We can't give up, Celes! There are more of these things, and we don't want them to get to anymore people." Batman said as he continued to fight two monsters at the same time.  
  
"But it seems like they keep coming, and multiplying! How are we supposed to take them all out??" Celes asked.  
  
"When I think of it, I'll let you know!" Batman replied as he finally killed both monsters.  
  
"That doesn't help the situation!"   
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"They've been out there for a while now." Max said, feeling a little uneasy.  
  
"Terry and Julie will return back in one piece." Bruce said.   
  
"I think I better go check on Dawn." Max said and she got up to go upstairs.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
"What's the matter, Dawn?" Midnight asked. "You want your memories back, don't you?"  
  
"It's just that, I don't know who's right anymore. What Terry told me seemed pretty true, with the balcony, and the wings, and the kiss... but what you're telling me also seems to be true too...All of this is so confusing."  
  
"I know it's hard for you, but you will regain your memories when we go visit father....come on now. We musn't keep him or your memories waiting." Dawn once more looked down at her hand, and then gave her a more confident look, and took her hand. Max had just walked in and noticed tha Midnight was there.  
  
"Midnight??!!" Max exclaimed. "What are you doing here?? Leave Dawn alone!"  
  
"Begone, puny mortal." Midnight said as she used her magic to blast Max away with one sweep. She fell through a wall and into the hallway. Slowly trying to get up, she noticed that dawn was with her. She took her hand once more and the two had left.  
  
"Dawn! No!" Max managed to say. Bruce walked up with Ace, and went to go help Max once he saw the damage that was made from the wall.   
"Max, are you all right?" He asked her.  
  
"Dawn's gone. Midnight has her now." Max said in a low tone. Bruce gave her a shocked look and then looked at the hole in the wall.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
Batman had just taken out a few more monsters when suddenly, all of them started to back away from both of the fighters. "The monsters are.......withdrawing!" He said.  
  
"Wahahah! That goes to show that we're too powerful for them!" Celes laughed.  
  
"No...I don't think that's the case." Batman said to her. "They've got to be retreating for some reason.....(gasp)!"  
  
"What? What is it?" Celes asked.  
  
"We've been played!" Batman said, feeling a bit angry.  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"This was just to lure us away from the manor! They wanted us to get away from the house so they could get to Dawn! This was planned from the start! We gotta get back there fast!" And with that, Terry got inside the batmobile while Celes got on her motorcycle to head back to the manor.   
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
"Father!" Midnight called. Just out of the shadows had appeared Zio. "I brought back Dawn, just as you wished."  
  
"Excellent, my daughter." Zio smiled. He looked at Dawn and put his hand on her shoulder. "My child. It has been a long time."  
  
"....."  
  
"Are you ready to return your memories back to you?" Zio asked. Dawn nodded her head and he walked closer to her. He put his hand on her head and began to use his magic to jolt Dawn with a ton of false memories. This is going to be perfect, Zio thought to himself  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
"Wayne! Max!" Terry shouted as he got in, with Julie following in from behind. When he got to the living room, he noticed that Max had a bandage on her head. "Max, what happened?" Terry asked when he saw her.  
  
"Midnight took Dawn....." She managed to say. "I tried to stop them, but it was useless. I'm sorry, Terry....." Terry closed his eyes in disbelief.  
  
"There is nothing we can do for right now is stradegize and pinpoint their next attack." Bruce said as he walked into the room. "If they have Dawn, it's going to make things a little bit more difficult."  
  
"No more..." Terry said.   
  
"What?" Bruce asked.  
  
"No more stradegies, no more plots....It never works! If it did, Dawn would still be here right now, wouldn't she??" Terry snapped.  
  
"Terry, no one could have stopped Midnight from getting Dawn." Julie said. "Not even you could have stopped her with the kind of powers she has."  
  
"We're all angry over the thought, Ter." Max said. "But we're going to try everything we can to get her back safely, right?" Terry looked at Max and then turned away.  
  
"That has to be the last straw......." He said as he pulled his hair back from his face and walked away. Julie watched as he walked away.  
  
"Terry, where are you going?" Bruce asked.  
  
"Out." He replied.  
  
"Out where?"   
  
"Out of here....I can't stand it here any longer." Terry said. Julie watched as he walked away, but before he could get to the door, she finally realized what he was going to do, and she used her ice magic and froze the door. He stepped back a slight and then turned back to Julie.  
  
"You're going....aren't you?" She asked in an angry, but sad tone. "I can't let you do this. You'd be making a bad choice."  
  
"Julie, this is none of your concern as of now." Terry said.  
  
"It IS my concern! I'm going to make it my concern because I won't sit back and lose another friend. If you think that you're going to walk out on us, you're going to be making the biggest mistake of your life. Once you do this, you know that we're going to become enemies."  
  
"Like I could care anymore."  
  
"So that's it? You're giving up everything to be with Dawn."  
  
"Wouldn't anyone do that for their loved one?" Terry asked.  
  
"Not at this extreme! There are always an alternative! We can find out how to save her without you having to do this.......I don't want to become your enemy, Ter. You're my friend."  
  
"Julie, that's long gone.....the old Terry McGinnis is dead. I'm all that's left of him." He said in an angry tone and went back to the door, and with a swift movement of his hand, he was able to remove all of the ice that was there. Max and Julie both stared at shock. He was never able to use magic before. They both wondered how he was actually able to do it in the first place. Terry then opened the door and walked out. It's about time I started acting differently about things. This is going to be the best escape that I'm going to have as Batman.....an escape out of my life so I don't have to worry about anyone else. I'm not going to tolerate it anymore. 


	9. Consumed by Evil

Chapter 9: Consumed by Evil  
  
Woo hoo! Chapter 9! I'm gettin' somewhere now! It's all because of summer! I love SUMMER! Okay, in case you've been wondering for a while why my fic is rated R, this would probably begin as to why. Because everything from before wasn't all that bad. The most I got out of those were probably just a little bit violent scenes...well, now it gets better(I hope)! There may be some-what of a hentai scene, so if you don't wanna read, that, SKIP over it, because I think you would get the idea, and know why it's happening! And for the people who have been keeping track as to what has been happening, you're probably thinking that Terry being all mad again...he's going to go off and do something stupid....yet again. Well, the reason I did it twice is because the first time, when we see him in that depression, he feels like he is being tortured inside, for not being able to not only save Dawn, but his father as well. It was a matter of repetition I guess. And just when you think that he was going to stay on the good side, it happens again. I don't remember if I had mentioned it earlier in the fic, but I remember writing something about it(I'm too lazy to look it up); Terry told Bruce and co. that whatever side Dawn would have been on, he would have guarded her not matter what. So, now that Dawn is taken, he's assuming that Zio would use some kind of mind-control on her. I mean, it's almost always expected for the good guy to have some kind of problem and then get back on track. But since Batman is supposed to be some dark hero, it goes well...I mean, Bruce can't be the only one that had the dark problems. But to have Terry switch sides WILLINGLY is kinda something that not really anyone would expect. And...there it goes...^-^  
  
  
I can't seem to win in any situation I have been in with them, Terry thought as he walked out of the manor. I can't be the hero AND protect Dawn at the same time. It had to be one or the other. It's not like I could have them both ways. I might as well choose a side that has more benefits. I can't keep struggling with this.  
  
"Zio...." Terry called out. "I know you can hear me wherever I am....And I want you to know that I'm ready to join with you...I want to join and be apart of everything...."  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
"H, he left!" Max said. "Now what are we going to do?"  
  
"We have to get his ass back here!" Julie replied angrily. "And I'm going to tolerate losing someone else!" She ran over to the door and opened it up to find that Terry was just beginning to disappear. She ran towards him, reaching out her hand to him. "TERRY!!!!" She shouted as he faded away slowly. She tried to grab hold of him, but she wasn't able to hold him, since he was barely visible. When Terry had completely disappeared, Julie remained in shock, and she fell to her knees. Bruce and Max came out of the house to see that Julie was sitting there, hearing her devastated cries.  
  
"He's gone." She said in her low tone. "Zio took him. And I know he was willing to go...."  
  
"Zio took him??" Bruce asked.  
  
"But why would Terry just let Zio take him?" Max asked.  
  
"Why wouldn't he?" Julie asked. "Terry knew that Dawn was there, and wherever Dawn is, he would be there to protect her. But by now, Zio has Dawn under his control, and Terry will be next."  
  
"Is this....really the end for us?" Max asked.  
  
"No! It's not the end!" Julie snapped. "I'm going to try to bring them both back to us."  
  
"And how will you do that?" Bruce asked sternly, crossing his arms. Julie then looked down at the ground.  
  
"I...I don't know."  
  
"Exactly. You don't know." Bruce said. "You have no idea where Zio is at this point, and right now, it's far beyond your reach as far as knowledge goes."  
  
"I never said it was going to be easy!" Julie said. "All I care about at this point is to bring back my best friends and then stop these jerks from causing anymore pain to anyone. They took away many lives and Gotham is expecting its heroes to come and rescue it since it's in distress...and look where they are. Two are gone, and the only one left is me. But it's not like I'm not going to try, because I still want to see Gotham standing after this war.....I may not have as strong abilities as Terry or Dawn, but I still have some tricks up my sleeve. This Ice Queen isn't going to back down because her partners are gone. I fought many battles by myself in the past, and it's not like I became dependent on them....because I didn't. If I fight, I'll fight it alone."  
  
"That's stupid. You know you don't stand a chance against them." Bruce said.  
  
"Who else is there?" Julie asked.  
  
"That's not fighting with honor, that's just fighting foolishly. Going in a battle that you know that you can't win is completely pointless!" Bruce explained.  
  
"But why would you want to?" Max asked.  
  
"Terry and Dawn have done a lot for me in the past, especially when I first came to Gotham. They helped me when I needed a lot of help. I'm simply returning the favor. Besides...It's not like I have anything else to lose..." Julie said as she lowered her head. She then stood up and looked at Max and Bruce. "The world may soon end because of Zio. When I fight him, I'll at least hold off the destruction as long as I can. I'm the last bit of Gotham's hope it has, and if I die, I'll be dying in battle; as a warrior...." They stared at each other with serious expressions, not able to say another word to each other.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
Terry arrived in Zio's fortress, unaware of what was going to happen. The room was dark, and it seemed rather bare, making him feel a little bit uncomfortable. What is it about this room that makes me feel like it's unwelcomed? Terry thought. It's not hot nor cold, and there isn't any real scent filling the room.  
  
"So, it seems that you decided to come over to the better side, Terrence," A voice said. Terry looked around and saw nothing. Then Zio had came out of nowhere from behind him. "A very wise decision, I must say."  
  
"Where's Dawn?" Terry asked.  
  
"She's around." Zio replied. "You still care for her?"  
  
"Of course I do." Terry answered. "If you plan on putting me under some kind of mind-control like you do with your other puppets, to make sure that they don't decieve you, then do it. I just ask one request of you."  
  
"Anything." Zio replied.  
  
"I want you to have me protect Dawn. A knight if you would call it that."   
  
"You realize Dawn has become my most powerful asset? She's going to be my power source for everything. My sorceress is going to be helping me in the eratication of this world. You'd be taking on a big responsibility protecting her. With anyone that would want to go up against me, they would have to make it through Dawn first, and I'd hate to see anything happen to her."  
  
"Nothing will happen to her as long as I'm protecting her." Terry said.   
  
"Even if one of your little troops decides to try to stop her?"  
  
"They mean nothing to me...." Terry replied. "Julie is the only one that is capable of fighting at this point. So if she tries to come for the two of us, she knows she won't stand against me."  
  
"Very well then, Terrence. You will have your wish." Zio smiled. "However, there is one favor I ask of you...I want you to sleep with Dawn.... to implant this seed inside of her once I have you under control. The chances may be small to impregnate her, but I want you to at least try to. It is very important for this to happen."  
  
"I understand." Terry said. Zio then put his hand on his head, and began to use his power to infuse Terry with full mind control. Terry stood there motionless, able to accept the duties he was going to be doing.   
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
"It's hopeless...." Bruce said as he checked his computers for possible locations for Zio's place. "To pinpoint his exact location is going to be finding a needle in a haystack."  
  
"Keep trying, Bruce. I know you have more tricks in that thick-headed skull of yours...." Julie replied, while she paced. Bruce frowned at the comment, but before he could say anything, Max butted in.  
  
"You know, I'd shut up that mouth if I were you." She told Julie. "I don't see you looking for it...."  
  
"Sorry...I'm just stressed out right now."  
  
"We all are." Bruce said. "You're not the only one."  
  
"I know, I know." Julie sighed. "If only I had the power to visualize where the fortress is, just by tapping into their thoughts just like Dawn could, then we'd know where they were..."  
  
"Great....Fantastic....Just one of your disabilities that prove uselessness to us." Bruce remarked as he continued to search.  
  
"...What was that you said, Bruce??" Julie asked, grinding her fist into her palm, becoming a tad bit irritated.  
  
"That's enough, Julie. Just keep your cool, okay? The last thing we need is an arguement." Max said, pushing Julie away from Bruce. Julie glanced at Bruce and then turned to the stern-faced Max. She dropped her guard and sat down.  
  
"I just hope nothing bad happens to them." Julie said, crossing her arms. "With the fact that they're probably at Zio's fortress, gives me an uneasy feeling about things......"  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
"Mistress....?" Terry called out when he knocked on the door to her room. He opened the door and found that Dawn was looking at a window with her backed turned to him. Terry walked in, and closed the door after him. He then went over to Dawn and finally was able to get her attention to move over to him. "Do you know about....what Zio wants?"  
  
"Yes.....I know what he wants....." Dawn said as she lowered her head. "And I am ready for it......are you?" Terry nodded his head slowly.  
  
"All right." She said. Dawn then used her magic, to make her clothes disappear from her body and she walked closer to Terry. He took off his shirt, and finally his pants. He led her over to the bed that was nearby and then gently laid Dawn down, where he was able to get on top of her. Terry slowly kissed her on the neck while he felt her breasts. He moved downwards, still kissing, and finally moved down to her legs.   
  
As close as they were in bed, it seemed that they were world's apart in their minds. Neither of them were able to think of their true thoughts of each other, and be aware of the things that they were doing. Both of those factors seemed to be taken out of the equation completely.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
"Father....!" Midnight said, feeling shocked. "I can't believe you let Dawn become the carrier....! And by Terry no less!"  
  
"Dawn is the strongest of the two of you. I wanted the stronger one for when the child comes into the world. He or she will continue on the ancient lines, and he would become our most valuable ally. He might even end up stronger than Dawn. That's what usually happens when the ancient mother gives birth to a newborn."  
  
"But father! I am just as strong as Dawn! Ten times more stronger than she is!"   
  
"We've gone through this before, Midnight. You may have proved you had some strength against her in your battle with her, but in the long run, she would be able to crush you in a single blow....that was what I was afraid of seeing if she had ever reached her full potential. Now that we have her under control, it seems we do not have to worry about such an attack. If she would reach her potential, she would crush anyone that would go against us. Not only that, but adding my power onto hers, makes her the most powerful being alive, beside me and Eagle."  
  
"So what am I now?? Chopped-liver??"  
  
"Midnight, you are still apart of this. I never said that you couldn't do anything useful."  
  
"I feel like you're playing me as a servant!"  
  
"Midnight! That's enough. I'm losing patience, my authority is absolute, and I won't tolerate these remarks coming from you. You will follow orders as directed. I hope that's clear. You will just be on standby along with the rest of the other soldiers...." Midnight scolded under her breath, becoming more frustrated with all the things that were going on around her. Damn that girl..........She thought to herself. She may be my sister, but everything is going to only her. If she thinks that she can take my place, she's gotta 'nother thing comin', Midnight thought to herself. That bitch isn't going to take anything that's mine away.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
Dawn was sleeping ontop of Terry's chest, silence was in the room, and the most sound you could hear would be the wind from the outside, blowing the drapes gently. Just then, there was a knock on the door. Terry's eyes slowly opened up, and once he heard the knock become consistant, He slowly got out of bed, setting Dawn away from him so she wouldn't wake up. He put his pair of pants back on and went to go open the door. Once he did, he found two soldiers that were waiting for him.   
  
"Terrence...?" One of them asked.  
  
"Yes?" He replied.  
  
"Lord Zio asks for your presence at his room." The other said. "He said he needed to put you on another assignment."  
  
"An assignment?" Terry repeated. "Tell him I'll be down there as soon as possible."  
  
"Good." Both soldiers left when Terry closed the door. He turned around to find that Dawn was still sleeping peacefully. He walked over to the bed and picked up his shirt to put on. He sat on the side of the bed that Dawn was on and leaned over to kiss her on the cheek, lightly brushing his lips against her. And with that, he set out of the room, and went to Zio's. Once he had got there, he was surrounded only in darkness, not able to see a thing. Then he noticed that there was a light figure coming out of the dark, showing that it was Zio.  
  
"Very good of you to come here, Terrence." He grinned. "I assume that the project was a success."  
  
"Yes, it was." Terry replied.  
  
"Good. I'm putting you on another assignment." Zio said. "Now that your task with Lady Dawn has been fufilled, I want you to do another thing for me."  
  
"What is it that you need me to do?"  
  
"I want you to go back to Wayne Manor and to finish off the rest of your former partners.....I know they may not be much of trouble, but it's better to pull the plug on them early than not at all."  
  
"You want me to...destroy them?" Terry asked.  
  
"Of course. Unless...there's going to be some kind of complication."  
  
"No, there won't be any complications at all. I can handle it, no problem." Terry said.   
  
"Good. I expect a lot out of you, Terrence. I think that you already understand that you can't fail...Because I, for the most part, won't tolerate any kind of failure."  
  
"I understand that perfectly, Lord Zio." Terry said as he lowered his head.   
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
Julie was pacing back and forth, not able to once stop for anything. She was becoming irritated with Bruce not able to come up with anything yet as to where Zio was. Her pacing was making loud, disturbing noises with her feet and both Max and Bruce get a little bit angry, but they said nothing. Julie's pacing continued, and it finally came to the point where it was beyond annoying.  
  
"Would you CUT that OUT?! You're being annoying!" Bruce said.   
  
"Well, I can't sit still!!" Julie said.  
  
"You're going to have to if you want to know where Zio is. Bruce is very close to figuring it out, so it would be nice if you sat down and didn't make anymore annoying sounds!" Max explained. Just then, "Intruder" came up on the computer right before there eyes, and then was followed by hearing a loud explosion.  
  
"Wh-what was that??" Max asked.  
  
"It must be Zio's minions or something! They're gonna try to tear this place down!" Julie said. "I'm gonna try to get them out of here!" She ran up the stairs that led back into the manor and closed the clock door behind her. When she turned around to look at what was going on, she could see that Terry was right in her face. She stepped back in surprise.  
  
"(gasp) Terry, you scared me! What-!" She asked but all of a sudden, Terry slapped her hard, and she fell to the ground. Julie looked up at him and noticed that his face looked completely different to what he normally would look like.  
  
"What the heck was that for?!" Julie asked, holding onto her cheek.  
  
"Just be quiet..." Terry said in a cold tone. "I'm gonna make this easier for you...instead of being killed by Lord Zio, I'll be your destroyer..."  
  
"Wh-WHAT??" Julie asked. Terry took her by the hand and threw her to the other side of the room. Julie was thrown so far that she even went through the window. Max came up from behind him and hit him with a chair. Terry barely felt it, and he turned around to her, to see that now she seemed frightened. He then back-handed her in the face, and Max fell backwards to the clock. Just then, ice began to shoot out from the side of him. He quickly moved away and turned around to find that Julie was holding her hand out to him.  
  
"I don't know what Zio did to you, but I won't let you hurt anyone. I don't want to have to hurt you and be your enemy...." She said.  
  
"Well, it may matter to you, but I could care less..." Terry grinned and charged at her. He began to punch in a vicious manner, while Julie continued to block. Terry seemed much stronger than he ever was before. Before she knew it, she saw a cane go around Terry's neck. She looked behind him to find that it was Bruce trying to hold Terry back. Terry then elbowed Bruce in the stomach, took him by the arm, and then threw him at Julie. Both of them fell to the ground, and they quickly moved out of the way when Terry tried to attack. Julie wanted to use her magic on him, but it just made it hard, seeing that he used to be her friend. It was just too hard. She got up and then ran out of the house to have Terry follow her out. Terry ran after her, as she had planned, but then he tackled her from behind and pushed her into the ground. She hit her face first, sliding across the area of dirt. Julie tried to get up, but then she was just pushed back in even further.  
  
"Face it, Julie. You're too weak to go up against me...so if you want to go face Zio, you're gonna have to beat me first." Terry smiled.  
  
"...And you actually think you have a chance?" Julie asked. She took him by the hand and flew him over to the side so she could get up. "You wanna a REAL fight, Terry? Then come follow me...we'll settle this." She said an she created an ice pathway that led straight up to the roof of the manor. She slid right up as she created the path and waited for Terry to come up. He looked up at her and used his powers to float up, not having to worry about climbing ice. Terry then used his powers to break the ice away from the manor, for no apparent reason  
  
"I have to admit it, Julie..." He said as he finally got on top of the roof. "You definitely have guts to take me on. However, guts isn't what's going to help you win this battle."  
  
"You talk too much, Terry..." Julie grinned. Terry once again charged at her, throwing punch after punch. Julie continued to block as much as she can and when she noticed that there was an opening, she elbowed him in the side. Terry walked backwards, holding onto his side in pain. Julie remained in her fighting stance, not once letting her guard down. The pain had finally stopped, and he threw a roundhouse to her face. She flipped in a rotation, hitting the ground pretty hard. Owww....She thought. That's gonna hurt my ass for a while....  
  
"Already down?" Terry asked. "I thought you to be fighting for a little bit longer, but I guess you're weaker than expected." Julie looked up at him with a scolding anger flaring. She used her ice magic and completely froze his feet to the roof.  
  
"I'm stronger than you think." She said slowly. "You left me no choice than to freeze you down...So now, I want some answers!"  
  
"You think a little bit of ice is gonna stop me?" Terry said. He used his powers and the ice melted away quickly. Uh...That can't be good...Julie thought to herself. This is making it very difficult, now that Ter has magic....but when was he ever able to learn magic? I don't recall him ever trying to learn....She threw ice rods at him, to prevent him from walking towards her, but he continued to walk towards her. Julie walked backwards, but all of a sudden, her foot slipped, and she fell backwards off the roof. When Terry noticed this, he became shocked and then went after her. he dove off the roof and opened up his wings. Catching her by the hand, he flew back up. Terry....saved me? Julie thought. She then noticed something different. His wings...they weren't the normal color white that she has seen them as before. Instead, they were a pure black. Once he got back on top, he threw her onto the ground.  
  
"...Terry....? You saved me.." Julie said.  
  
"Feh...I was just keeping you alive so I could have the pleasure of killing you, instead of you, being the clutz that you can be, fall to a boring death of hitting the rocks below." Terry responded.  
  
"Oh really? If you weren't really the Terry I knew, then you wouldn't have even bothered to come and get me. Your mission would have been successful." Terry's anger began to build and suddenly, without moving a muscle, he split the ground in have, causing a lot of damage coming Julie's way. The erosion was massive, and made it almost impossible to get out of the way from. She quickly moved out of the way, but accidentally landed on her ankle since she wasn't on her full balance.   
  
"Like I said earlier, that Terry that you knew is dead. He is no longer among us, and I am what's left of him...his dark half. Thanks to Lord Zio, I was able to embrace his better half and completely eliminate is bad half."  
  
"No..." Julie said in a low tone. "NO---!!!!!!" She slowly tried to get up, and use her biggest ice attack on him. By doing so, the ice she has used was thrusted at him at maximum speed, and Terry was completely thrown off by it. He was pushed back into the manor, unable to move from the ice that held him captive. Once his arms were frozen to the wall, Julie then iced together his legs from being able to move. She slowly limped over to him and looked him square in the eye, inches away from each other's face.  
  
"I just won't believe that what you say is true." She said in a low tone. "And if you think you can just led me on to think that the Terry that I know is gone, then you have another thing coming-!" Just then, Terry leaned himself in and began to kiss Julie on the lips passionately. She was caught off guard by this, but then she pushed herself away from him and slapped him in the face. He had a grin on his face from ear to ear, and began to chuckle.  
  
"You may have Terry still left inside of you, but that sure as hell wasn't him!" She said, breathing hard. Although I can see why Dawn really likes to kiss him....Julie though. He's VERY good at it...er...That's not what I should be thinking! Think STRAIGHT, MORON!   
  
"Heh..." Terry said, continuing to chuckle.  
  
"Why are you laughing?" Julie asked, using her low, angry tone.   
  
"It's just funny to me to think that no matter how much you try, you know that you're going to be eventually stopped."  
  
"That may be so....But it's not gonna be by you." A voice said and all of a sudden a tranquilizer went straight into Terry's chest, knocking him unconscious. Julie looked around to find that Bruce and Max were behind her.   
  
"It's about time you guys came around..." She said. "What did you guys do to him exactly?"  
  
"We used ad tranquilizer to knock him out....It's going to try to go through his whole body to take off that power that Zio put on him." Bruce explained.  
  
"Is that physically possible?" Julie asked.  
  
"We don't know....but let's just hope it does..."  
  
".....You mean this whole time....you were trying to make this stupid thing while I was getting killed when you coulda HELPED ME?"  
  
"Actually, I made this not too long ago...When Terry decided to go to Zio, I knew that something like this was going to happen."  
  
"AND YOU JUST HAPPEN TO HAVE AN ANTIDOTE??? HOW DO YOU KNOW WHAT INGREDIANTS TO USE????" Julie asked, becoming a bit annoyed. Max just laughed nervously.  
  
"Now, now...We don't need to worry about all that...What we need to worry about is getting Terry back to himself." She said. "And then we're gonna worry about going to Zio..."  
  
"Yes...Hopefully Terry can tell us where his castle is since he was already there." Bruce said as he looked at the unconscious Terry. "If Terry can remember it, we might be able to save Dawn and take out Zio once and for all." 


End file.
